The Master of Death
by OnTheImportanceOfLungs
Summary: All it took were several rash words to Fate, and Harry Potter gets spirited away to where souls go when they die. He seeks to change the world. Unfortunately, this goal makes Horcrux hunting look like a year-long camping trip. Abandoned.
1. The Hallows

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter, Naruto Uzumaki, nor Bleach.

Author's Note: This is a rewrite of the first chapter of the Hallowed. I liked the concepts, but I don't like how I developed any of it, at all.

Summary: Harry's the Master of Death now. But what does that really mean? Follow the adventures of the Boy-Who-Lived, thrown through space and Time to prepare him for a confrontation a spirit of Life who hasn't been doing a good job.

Another Note: Harry/Retsu. Naruto/OneNightStandswithDeathGods

Final Note: The Voices of the Veil is directly quoted from Exit by U2, from the Joshua Tree album. This isn't a songfic. I just needed a sufficiently powerful poem that would illustrate the events, and I can't write poems to save my life.

**Luna**

It was hopeless.

They were of greater number and greater power.

The only being that could have truly turned the tide was the Spirit of Nature that she'd met on a vacation to Sweden. She had been so disappointed that she hadn't found any Nargles when he had appeared. Beautiful blue eyes, unruly blond hair, and entirely immaterial. She'd tried to touch him several times.

There was something different about the Spirit's right eye, but she didn't pry when he ignored her question. He had promised that he'd help her once.

She had been a Third Year, and didn't know much about promises, but she didn't think that the promise was either magical or binding, even at the time.

He seemed powerful though.

But now, disaster had struck.

Only Neville Longbottom had possessed the courage to challenge Lord Voldemort.

It didn't do him much good. He was currently standing in the no man's land between the two armies, and even in the face of death, his face was stoic, noble.

The Sorting Hat was now on his head, _burning_. It wasn't a normal Magical fire either - it was the Fire of Consumption, designed to destroy anything that a magical object had touched recently. _Neville_.

A tear dripped out of the corner of her eye.

She took out the spirit's gift, a strange three-pronged knife of some sort with a small piece of paper attached to it, which cheesily told her to "Write your wish here!"

She conjured a muggle pencil - it was faster than a quill, after all, and quickly wrote "Help Neville defeat Lord Voldemort."

The magic on the paper, surprisingly, absorbed the words, and she felt her intent, thoughts of Neville, Lord Voldemort enter the paper Legilimenically. She blanched. It was almost like the diary that Ginny had written in during her First Year.

The words finally vanished, and other words appeared. "Your wish has been received, Luna. Throw me towards Neville, please."

Luna flicked her wand, and the dagger, knife, utensil flew from her grasp, and landed next to Neville.

Nothing happened for a moment, and then the battle was joined again.

The Sorting Hat was still burning.

And then the Spirit came.

He was invisible to most of the combatants - only those with true talent - Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, Walden MacNair, Hermione, Professor Flitwick, saw the spirit.

Yet Neville commanded everyone's attention, even as the snake, Nagini, flew at him.

The Spirit whispered several words into Neville's ears, and was gone.

**Neville**

One moment, he was sure he would burn to death, then a spirit of some sort had appeared, made a strange shape with his hands, and the fire was gone. A small piece of paper faintly glowed, as if it had absorbed the fire.

The spirit, a blond man that looked no older than twenty five, had bent down (he was floating), and whispered in Neville's ear.

"Draw upon your spirit, young one."

He disappeared.

A snake flew at Neville. Neville snatched the Sorting Hat off of his head, and thought of Harry's story at the end of Second Year.

_Can I draw the... Crimson Ruby_?

Crimson Ruby. He didn't know where the name had come from, but the instant he thought of it, it felt as if something fundamental within him had disappeared. If he weren't in battle, he would have clutched his chest. It was almost empty, painful.

Then he knew. He knew that, by acknowledging the Crimson Ruby, he had lost something of his own. _Perhaps I have a sword waiting for me to forge too?_

His hand shot into the Hat, and words, once jumbled in the back of his mind, came together in a flawless tapestry of majesty and power.

"Never cut twice, Crimson Ruby!"

He drew Gryffindor's Sword out of the hat, and clove the Snake in two.

Shocked silence followed for a moment before the battle was joined again.

**Harry**

He was glad that Neville had finally found his courage. What he didn't expect was that the burst of _something_ that Neville had let out when he drew Gryffindor's Sword had reacted with him.

It was sort of like Magic, but it was more light, fluffy, and morbid. Neville seemed to possess more of it than Magic. He wondered if the spirit that he was sure Luna had summoned with some sort of rune stone, metal engraving, something that he couldn't see clearly, had anything to do with it.

The Resurrection Stone had appeared on his right ring finger. The Elder Wand, which had been in Voldemort's grasp, was now in his. The Invisibility Cloak, once covering him, had draped itself around him normally.

A flash lit up in his vision. He looked around. No one else had seen it. The flash occurred again. It was of the same make as Neville's new power.

The Veil appeared in front of him, and the battlefield melted away.

The Veil spoke to him, and he understood it.

It began speaking in a trio of voices that Harry had thought he'd forgotten.

"You know he got the cure, you know he went astray. He used to stay awake to drive the dreams he had away. He wanted to believe in the hands of love."

Harry saw a fleeting glimpse of Voldemort, and the voice of Albus Dumbledore whispered in his mind again. _The Power he Knows Not. _His heart nearly broke as he recognized his mother's voice. The Deathly Hallows, the Elder Wand, the Stone, the Cloak, they began to glow a milky white.

The Cloak flashed around him, and flowed around him, and his connection to the Veil grew.

"His head, it felt heavy, as he cut across the land. A dog started crying like a broken hearted man. At the howling wind, at the howling wind."

The Resurrection Stone began to pulse in his hand as he heard the voice of Sirius Black. It glowed grey as the wave of white met the deep midnight of his magic.

"He went deeper into black, deeper into white, could see the stars shining like nails in the night. He felt the healing, healing, healing, _healing_ hands of love like the stars shining, shining from above."

The Elder Wand hummed slightly, and he felt the same wave of power that Neville held grow in him, eclipsing his magic, then eclipsing Neville's power. Magic flooded his veins to maintain balance with the new power. Harry knew for sure that Neville had no such luxury.

"Hand in the pocket, finger on the steel. The pistol weighed heavy, his heart he could feel... was beating, beating, beating, _beating_. Oh my love, oh my love, oh my love, oh my _love_. My love... He saw the hands that build can also pull down."

The Veil spun, and wrapped itself around an object that Harry hadn't noticed before - he wasn't sure when it had appeared.

"Speak my name, Master."

The Battlefield, now in the entrance hall of Hogwarts, was suddenly visible again.

Harry and Voldemort spoke for a while. Voldemort was using his old wand again, and Harry was gleefully explaining the circumstances as to how he came into possession of the Elder Wand.

"Shall we end it, Tom?"

Voldemort snarled, and a single beam of sunlight as the sun rose ripped through a destroyed window, illuminating the pair of them, as Voldemort prepared the most powerful Killing Curse he'd used since an October night seventeen years ago.

"_Light in the Heart of Man, Lance of Blood and Water. I summon the Spear of Longinus_!"

The milky white spiritual power turned green, as green as the Killing Curse, and Harry pushed his way straight through the Avada Kedavra the Dark Lord threw, and plunged the Spear into Voldemort's chest, piercing through the hundreds of physical enchantments and killing him.

Harry turned his back to Voldemort, and the Veil, which had been wrapped around his spear and strapped, by magic or something else, to his Invisibility Cloak, rewrapped itself, and stuck itself back onto the Cloak.

The world melted away again, and the Veil unfurled before him, and a figure stepped out of it.

"Greetings, Harry Potter. You have fulfilled my mission." A woman who seemed to be wrapped in the Veil from whence she came had appeared before him. Harry gaped at her beauty.

"Your mission?" Harry frowned.

"I am Fate."

Harry frowned again. "Should I bend over and let you bugger me again?"

She gave a mysterious smile. "If that is your wish."

Harry sputtered for a moment, then regained his composure.

"Those who fulfill prophecies are given a single wish, as long as it is within my power to fulfill. In addition, I will answer any questions you have."

Harry thought back on the final battle that he'd been in only seconds ago.

"Who was the Spirit that spoke to Neville?"

"He is... out of my jurisdiction, closer to me than any being, immortal or not. He is the Maelstrom, a spirit of Wind and Water, and the Guardian of Life itself on the planet."

"Fat lot of good he's done. How long as he been around?" Harry grumbled.

"Nearly a thousand years."

"Is he going to resign any time soon, because he's doing a terrible job. Voldemort should have never existed if he were vigilant. Grindelwald wouldn't have massacred his opposition-" Harry was getting more and more worked up. _Maybe if the Spirit had done more, I would never have been necessary_.

"I do not presume to tell him how to do his job, Harry. I once ruled him as I did you, and when he fulfilled his Prophecy, he told me to, quoting him, 'leave me alone'. I can not strike him down, or tell him to do better."

"Would he listen if I asked him to try harder?" Harry frowned, staring down Fate herself.

"He wouldn't."

"What would-"

"If you surpass him, he might consider your words", Fate replied, knowing his question already.

"Can I-"

"No. He is beyond you, even if you are the Master of Death. He is the Lord of Life itself, and as long as here exists living beings in this world, he will possess his power. And no matter your improvement, he is constantly getting more powerful."

"Then, I will use my wish... to gain more power than him."

"That is impossible. I cannot imbue power within you, and if I could, I doubt even I could defeat him on this plane."

"Is there anyone stronger than him?"

"That can manifest on this plane? No. The Gods of Old are resting, much in the same way the Spirit is."

"Is there any way you can give me the power to convince him to end his passivity?"

Fate stared at Harry for a moment. He was noble indeed. "Yes."

"Do it."

"As you wish, Harry Potter."

Another blinding flash lit up in his vision, and he was no longer in Hogwarts.

"What?" he wondered aloud, as the landscape faded into view.

"I have left you in the seventy-third district of East Rukongai, Harry. Before your magic leaves you entirely, you might want to cast a Permanent Translation charm. I have taken you a thousand years into the past, give or take a century, and to a different plane."

Harry's hand seized the Elder Wand in his wand holster, and he quickly pressed it to his throat, and cast the charm which Fate whispered in his ear.

"I take my leave, Harry Potter. Good night, and good luck."

Harry stared at the surrounding area as the last of his magic drained away.


	2. Rukongai

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter, Naruto Uzumaki, nor Bleach.

Summary: Harry's the Master of Death now. But what does that really mean? Follow the adventures of the Boy-Who-Lived, thrown through space and Time to prepare him for a confrontation a spirit of Life who hasn't been doing a good job.

Author's Note: Hikifune Kirio is a real character - the captain of the 12th division preceding Urahara Kisuke.

**Harry**

If he knew he was going to end up as a street urchin in the equivalent of heaven a thousand years into the past, he wouldn't have asked Fate to grant that specific wish.

But here he was, a month of District Seventy Three later, huddled in a little alleyway, trying to stave off the cold.

Harry looked around, even as the words "Good night and good luck", were whispered to him, and realized that he was unable to use any of the Hallows. Consequently, he employed a trick that Hermione would have killed him if she had known.

Fortunately, she wasn't born yet, and the Containment Rune that he'd etched on his left breast with the Veiled Spear easily held the three Hallows.

On the bright side, no one could see the Spear - they could only predict its existence when it was in his hands. He hadn't Unveiled it since he'd killed Voldemort, a thousand years in the future.

He had been tempted to, several times, but the Veiled Spear was sufficient to keep him safe.

He looked around. Too late - he was surrounded already.

"Give us all o' yer valuables, and we might think of not guttin' you, boy."

For a moment, Harry thought it'd be easy for him to escape, then he realized that one of the 'bandits' was a Shinigami.

He glared. The Shinigami who "patrolled" the Seventy Third district were corrupt and uncaring, but this was ridiculous. "_You_", he spat at the Shinigami, "shouldn't you be _preventing_ this from happening?"

The Shinigami guffawed loudly. Harry clenched his fists. The man even had the gall to wear his uniform, the black Shihakusho, with a blade, most likely his Zanpakuto tucked into the hakama-himo that tied his uniform together, while mugging his victims.

"You're a disgrace. You're a guardian of dead souls, not a petty thief."

In a flash, his cheek was nicked.

_Damn it all. That's the Flash Step, or something similar. He's much faster than I am._

"Shunpo?" Harry asked. The Shinigami nodded, a wild grin on his face, cruelty in his eyes.

"You're dead."

Harry had no doubt. Since he had completed Fate's mission, he wasn't protected by any of his impossible luck anymore. He decided that he wouldn't be erased from existence without putting up some sort of fight.

"Light in the Heart of Man, Lance of Blood and Water!" The Veil lifted from the Spear of Longinus, and Harry's magical power, made staggering by the Hallows, flooded back into him. He flexed his magical core, calling his magic to the forefront, and he thrust the Spear forward.

The Shinigami's eyes had widened. He had a relatively powerful Zanpakuto - even if he was unable to unseal it. But it appeared that the orphan turned victim in front of him had achieved Shikai, and his recently invisible weapon had emitted a kind of Reiatsu that most lieutenants would be hard-pressed to match. He brought his Sealed Zanpakuto (he never learned the name of it) up to block the weapon which could only be described as beautiful...

And the Spear of Longinus tore straight through the Shinigami's Zanpakuto and sank into the man's chest, destroying his soul instantly.

Harry's eyes widened. He had killed a grand total of two people now - Voldemort and some nameless Death God. But he had learned something very important. His magic had not left him - it was either contained within the Spear of Longinus, or only accessible when he removed the Veil.

He disappeared into the night, quickly Veiling the Zanpakuto with just a thought, and strapping it to his back. He knew that there would be an investigation soon, and he couldn't stay in district Seventy Three any longer.

**Yamamoto**

Yamamoto Genryusai Shikeguni was seated in his office when a burst of Reiatsu that was identical to that of the Spirit King's lit up like a Christmas light in East Rukongai.

He shot out of his seat, and let off a Kido spell that summoned all of his captains to his office.

"Yamamoto-sama", they all intoned, as they immediately fell into position in front of him.

"I have no doubt that some of you brats felt that earlier."

The Shihoin clan head, his Second Division commander spoke up. "Yes, I have sent Onmitsukido to investigate, Captain-Commander."

"This is unheard of. The Spirit King has either manifested himself once more, or someone has been tampering with the very laws of nature itself. We must find the individuals doing so, if the second is the case. There's no reason to believe that the Spirit King would appear in East Rukongai of all places."

**Harry**

He had just cleared District Sixty Eight when he managed to crash into a girl. It was his fault, really. He had whipped his head around when he thought he'd seen a Shinigami (if it was, the Shinigami in question had been using the Shunpo), and he'd barrelled into a very beautiful specimen of a soul.

"Whoah now", the girl breathed, surprised.

"Really sorry", Harry said, looking at the silent girl. Her hair was done into a braid that hung in front of her, and her eyes were a deep shade of blue. He could feel himself blushing. _Asian girls_, a victorious side of him that he identified as his libido crowed.

She smiled at him warmly, and Harry's blush deepened. "What are you running from?" she asked.

"Oh, I was just trying to get away from my old District..."

"Retsu. Unohana Retsu. At least that's what the lady at the orphanage told me before we ran away."

She was open, and rather friendly, giving away information as if it were free.

"Harry. Potter Harry. I'm sort of new - I've only been in Soul Society for a month. Not quite what I expected."

"Well, I was both born here - my parents were then reincarnated, so I ended up in an orphanage in District Ten. I ran away to see the world. Are you living on the street?"

Harry smiled sheepishly. "Yes, I don't know about any accommodations for new souls, and I was sort of... dropped here. I miss my friends..." he trailed off.

"You remember?" she wondered sharply.

"Remember what?" Harry stared.

"Your friends, family. Your life, Harry-san?"

"Of course I remember my life! How could I not?" Harry looked on bemusedly.

"I don't think that's supposed to happen, Harry-san", said Retsu.

"Right. Hope I see you again, Retsu-chan. I'm gone!" Harry shot off into the distance.

Retsu smiled and shook her head.

**Harry**

Harry was now in District Fifty Eight of East Rukongai, engaged in the process of "gettin' money". Gettin' money involved taking part in a semi-legal fighting club that was organized by a bunch of Shinigami with Kan (the currency of Soul Society) to spare. The prizes (for normal Souls only) included over ten thousand Kan for a win.

Harry didn't know much about martial arts - he'd been mostly proficient with a wand when he'd been a Wizard. But he had taken the time to learn one of Sirius Black's specialties, a technique invented by Frank Longbottom (who had lots of Magic and a very small repertoire of spells) that allowed him to magically charge his fists to punch holes in persistent doors. It wasn't very good for combat - he'd never used it against another witch or wizard, but that wasn't the case now.

Because he knew he had huge stores of Reiryoku (at least that's what he thought it was called. It could have been Reiatsu or something like that) compared to other souls. There was no reason to believe that he couldn't do the same thing. It wasn't cheating if no one found out, right?

No one did find out. That was why he was in the final round of the contest, having knocked out seven people with a single punch.

His opponent was a blond girl with green eyes and a lithe, muscular form. In the bouts she'd participated in, she'd taken lots of damaged, but had picked herself up effortlessly, and used her resilience and superior speeds to overwhelm her opponent. Harry thought she might have picked up the Hoho somewhere - the precursor to the Shunpo that he'd heard some green Shinigami discussing.

In any case, he needed the money, even if he had to punch a cute girl into submission. He frowned. Even two months ago, he wouldn't have even thought of this.

"Hajime!" the referee called.

The girl shot forward, her elbow flying at him. Harry fought the urge to duck, and punched back with a fist coated in Reiryoku, sending her spinning. She recovered immediately (which none of the other fighters had done - they'd stayed down, even the ones that weren't unconscious) and approached him warily.

"Your moves are sloppy. Your punches aren't in correct form. I watched all of your fights. What are you doing, exactly?"

Harry frowned, and they circled each other, staring at the other with the intensity of a hawk.

She leapt forward, bringing her leg up in crazy martial arts moved that Harry would have killed to emulate. He threw a Reiryoku laced punch to, once again, knock her away, but the leg wasn't there any more. A punch had slammed into his jaw.

The crowd roared as he was knocked on his ass. He bounded up quickly, forcing his Reiryoku to accelerate the healing. _Damn it, she's good._

She frowned. "Everything I know about you would evidence that you should have been laid out by that hit." She glared. "How are you still up?"

Harry lashed out with an open palm, but she danced out of the way, kicking his elbow. Harry was glad that he had sheathed his entire arm in Reiryoku - it would have been broken otherwise. Even so, the kick nearly tore his arm out of its socket.

_Ten thousand kan_. He threw himself forward, protecting the majority of his body by spreading a thin layer of Reiryoku around (he wasn't proficient enough to spread it denser like Sirius could have with his magic), and rained punches on the girl, who ducked and dodged each one without retaliating. Then suddenly, her foot hit the side of his head, hard.

The Reiryoku took most of the damage, and while Harry's head snapped back, he was still able to land what looked like a glancing blow on the girl's solar plexus. The blow was laced in Reiryoku. The girl was knocked back hard, completely unable to breathe for a moment.

Harry knocked her out with a punch to the temple - one that wasn't as dangerous as his normal punches.

"Winner, Potter-san!"

**Harry**

"Leave me alone, please?"

"Not until you tell me what you did", the girl growled.

"Who are you anyw-"

"Hikifune Kirio. Now tell me."

"I don't even know you. What if I was on the run from an evil entity that wants to kill me to rip pieces of his soul off and put it into containers, and every single time I used my special power, it'd light up like a beacon and hundreds of his followers will show up to apprehend me, and put me in the dungeons of his right hand man, and lock me in there and torture anyone found with me by using Pain-causing Kido?"

"Wh-what? Are you joking?"

"Everything I told you was true." Harry wondered if he could consider the ability to say Voldemort's name a special power, or if she'd noticed that he had used the past tense.

The girl stared at him for a moment. "You're teaching me how to use your special power anyway. I want to get into Shinigami Academy, and if you don't teach me, there's no way I can."

"Shinigami Academy?"

"Yes. Don't you dare laugh because I'm a girl! I swear I'll-"

"That's not why I asked. What's the Shinigami Academy?"

"You don't know what the Shinigami Academy is?" she looked at him as if he were insane. "The Academy is six years long, and teaches you Zanjutsu, Kido, Hakuda, Hoho, and how to find your Zanpakuto. There's an entrance exam every year, and anyone can try - thousands show up, but they only let several hundred potential candidates in. I've... I've failed it three times. If you teach me, I could get into-"

"Who wants to be a Shinigami anyway? They're corrupt and incompetent. They're lazy, and they weak." Kirio looked ready to protest, but Harry continued, "I know people who would have kicked their asses when I was living."

"You remember your living mem-"

"Great Merlin, is there some sort of Kido that Shinigami use on everyone to make them forget their memories or something?"

"Yes actually, it's called a Soul Burial."

Harry gaped at her for a moment. "Really?"

"Stop distracting me! You're going to teach me how to do that trick of yours!"

"It's three o'clock in the morning. Those fights took forever. I want to sleep."

"How do I know you're not going to just run away?"

"You don't. I'm planning to, actually", Harry smirked.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight until you teach me, then!"

"O-okay. I'm going to go to sleep now." Harry walked into an abandoned alley that looked less dirty than it probably was, and laid himself down on a relatively clean cardboard board, sealing his newly acquired ten thousand Kan in his breast with his other valuables.

"You can't just sleep on the street!" Kirio exclaimed.

"I've been doing it for a month. Most people where I come from slept on the streets."

"Where did you come from", she asked, dreading the answer.

"District Seventy Three."

"The _Seventy Third_ district? No wonder you needed tricks like that to fight. You can sleep at my place tonight, but only if you teach me how to do it." Harry looked at her uncertainly. "I have an extra bed..." she trailed off.

"Deal."

She led him to a nondescript flat, and fumbled with several locks for a moment, then pulled him into a living room/kitchen of some sort, and quickly closed the door, locking the three deadbolts attached to the heavy iron door. While District Seventy Three had been among the worst, District Fifty Eight was still pretty dilapidated, and had a lot of burglars.

He hadn't slept in a real bed since the night before Fleur Delacour's wedding. While snuggling in a transfigured couch with Hermione and Ron (there were no boundaries after a year-long camping trip) was nice, it didn't compare to having a pillow. He actually stayed awake for three minutes to savor the warmth and comfort it provided before falling asleep.

When he woke, it was to an amused girl shaking him. "Harry-kun, it's four in the afternoon!" she smiled cheerfully, holding up pictures of him drooling all over the pillow. He lunged at her, but she danced out of the way, and he landed on the ground face-first.

"Oww..." he mumbled.

"It's a great time for you to be teaching me!" She was seriously happy, it seemed, when she hadn't been hit multiple times. "I'll let you stay as long as it takes, but I doubt it'll take more than a day or two for me to learn it."

Harry nodded thankfully. Sleeping in a bed was like crack. Only more exhilarating and much more addictive. "Okay, let's get started." He paused momentarily to grin. There was no way that Kirio could figure out the Enchanted Punch (as Sirius called it) as a normal Soul, who probably didn't know any-

She had tried out multiple times for the Shinigami Academy. They probably involved Kido usage. He ground his teeth in frustration. She _would_ probably get it in a day or two.

"Do you know any Kido?"

"Of course! I'm know five or six Spells."

"I want you to use a low level Binding spell on me."

"I knew this trick used Reiryoku!" She pointed her index finger at Harry and screwed up her face in concentration. "The wind pushes and pulls, and teaches restraint!"

Harry's arms were slowly pushed behind his back. He didn't even resist it - he knew he was capable, Reiryoku or not. "Right then. So, tell me what you feel when the spell takes hold."

"I'm supposed to feel something?"

Harry grinned. Maybe it'd take pretty long after all.

**Harry**

He made Kirio practice the first Bakudo for nearly a week before he finally gave up. The only progress was Kirio's ability in Kido. Her use of the spell had become more effective, and snapped Harry's arms behind his back pretty violently unless he resisted. She was getting restless. He decided that there was something wrong with the spell. "Will you let me try the Restraining cha- Kido on you?" Harry's mind had subconsciously decided that it was a low-level charm.

"Sure, do what you want", she grumbled.

He pointed his finger, and visualized her arm snapping back, drawing on his Reiryoku, which leapt from his hand, and pushed her arms together. Hard.

"Ow!" she screamed. Harry widened his eyes, and quickly cut off the flow to his Reiryoku. She stared at him, open-mouthed. "You said you've never done it before!"

"I haven't used any... Kido. I do know some little tricks though."

"But to do it without the incantation - you could be a Kido master in disguise or something!"

"I did tell you that I was on the run from an evil entity-"

"that wants to kill you to rip pieces of his soul off and put it into containers, and every single time you use your special powers, it'd light up like a beacon and hundreds of his followers will show up to apprehend you, and put you in the dungeons of his right hand man, and lock you in there and torture me by using Pain-causing Kido. You've told me multiple times." She took a deep breath. "That doesn't explain why you can do Kido without even thinking about it, or using the incantation."

"Let's move on from this. I know for a fact that you're supposed to feel something when you use the spell now, and that it's not broken like I thought. You have to keep practicing. It was three years before I felt... Would you believe me if I told you that humans can use something that Souls can't to cast spells? Living energy, so to speak? Magic?"

She stared at him incredulously for a moment, then nodded. "I guess that would explain why you were so good at this."

"Yeah. So with magic, it was years before I realized the exact amount of pull from my magical core. That was because I had a lot of it, for an eleven year old. Most of my friends felt the pull by three or four months. It's going to take between three months and three years, or even longer if you don't have any talent. I don't know any other way for you to realize it, but when you do, you'll be able to do Kido like I do, wandl- err, without incantation, I mean."

**Harry**

Luckily for Harry, the girl who'd begin calling him outoto-chan (Harry rolled his eyes at that) was either a prodigy, or Magic was just much harder than Kido. It had only taken the girl two months, and she was now able to do all types of things with her Kido that she told Harry, in no uncertain terms, that were impossible for a normal Shinigami. Of course, the stories that she told Harry of huge black holes, and spells that could destroy enter mile radii seemed to be a bit farfetched.

Harry wondered how that could be possible when they couldn't do something all wizards could do, and decided that it was either the fact that wizards were comparatively domesticated, or that Shinigami lacked creativity. Big bolts of lightning indeed!

Now that she could feel her Reiryoku, however, it was a simple matter to teach her how to charge her body parts with it. Harry didn't like to admit it, but he learned a lot about Hakuda, watching her fight.

She had taught him more than that though. She had taught him some meditation exercises she had picked up from years of listening to Shinigami talk, and he'd had spoken to the Spear of Longinus for the first time. She had nearly fainted when she realized that he had discovered his Zanpakuto, and had learned its name without ever speaking to it.

He grimaced as he thought of it.

_He had laid the Veiled Spear in his lap, put the Cloak on, slipped the Stone onto his right ring finger and grasped the Wand in his left hand._

"_Hey", he called to the shape perched on a hill._

_She ignored him._

"_Hey!" he shouted again. Very suddenly, he was pinned against the ground, and she was young, platinum blond, well endowed, and smirking._

"_Is the Master here to see me?" she winked._

_Harry pursed his rapidly drying lips, fighting the impulse to lick them, and swallowed heavily. The woman was very beautiful - her face was regal, her cheeks high, but her eyes were pools of ink that gave off a green glow. The same bottle green that his eyes were. The same bottle green that the Killing Curse was._

"_Are you the Spear?"_

"_Spear? The word is so... phallic." Harry blushed. "I prefer Light in the Heart of Man, but you know that already."_

"_Is death truly in the heart of man?" Harry chuckled disbelievingly._

"_Oh yes. Man has killed more of his own kind than anything. It is so prevalent in here", she tapped his chest, "that even in death, man has found a way to erase others from existence."_

_There was a comfortable silence as they both stared at the inky black sky._

"_Who are you, exactly?"_

"_I'm all your desires." She shifted into an imitation of Ginny, of Cho Chang, of the girl he had met in District Sixty Eight, Retsu, and then into his mother._

_He sprang back._

"_Hush. Everyone wants mommy or daddy at some point." She sauntered towards him, removing the kimono she was wearing slowly._

"_Away!" Harry pushed himself back, and collided against an inky black barrier._

"_You're too noble for your own good. Most men would-"_

"_I don't care what most men-"_

"_This is sort of like wanking, isn't it? I am, after all, part of you." She winked._

"_You're not. You're only hear because of the Hallows."_

"_The Hallows." She shifted back into the pretty platinum blond again, and for a moment, her face wasn't so certain. "Do you know what the Hallows are?"_

"_No. Would you-"_

"_You will. There is nothing like them in the world, or even Rukongai. They are unique. Perhaps, in time, you know that they aren't the reason that I appeared to you, but that I was the reason they appeared to you."_

_Harry shook his head confusedly for a moment, but it appeared that he was within Kirio's flat again._

He didn't know what to think of Light (as he began to call her).

"We better leave, outoto. It's four months until the next Shinigami exam, and from all the fighting, we've gathered around fifty thousand kan. That's probably enough to live comfortably for a while. The exam is held in Junrinan, in West Rukongai. It takes around three months to get there on foot. It should be two, but... stuff happens, and I've missed the exam before. But I have a good feeling about this exam, and I think we should go now."

Harry nodded, and lamented the fact that Transfiguration was completely incompatible with Reiryoku. He wasn't going to be in a bed for a while, once again.

**Author's Note**

Right. I needed an older character, someone who could have been of Retsu's (and now, Harry's) generation. I scoured the interwebz, and discovered Hikifune Kirio, who was the 12th division captain before Urahara Kisuke. She went off to the Royal Guard a hundred and ten years before Canon, and nothing much else is known about her. She's not going to have any Harrytime. It's strictly Harry/Retsu.


	3. Entrance Exam

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter, Naruto Uzumaki, nor Bleach.

Summary: Harry's the Master of Death now. But what does that really mean? Follow the adventures of the Boy-Who-Lived, thrown through space and Time to prepare him for a confrontation a spirit of Life who hasn't been doing a good job.

GrimReaper: Harry isn't the Spirit King, he just has the same Reiryoku signature due to his unique possessions (the Hallows)

**Harry**

Life on the road wasn't actually that bad when there was money to spare. Well, they had money for eight districts - stopping for two nights in hotels really drained their cash.

So Harry ended up doing the inevitable. Getting money.

He stood on the street corner, having bought the closest thing to robes several districts back, in DIstrict Forty Nine. Normally, he wouldn't have stooped to this, but he didn't know where the local fights were held, if they were held at all.

District Forty Nine wasn't so poor compared to Fifty Eight - it had streetlamps at night. There were small houses interspersed between all the apartment buildings that were spread about the area.

So here he was, performing "magic tricks" with the help of his cute assistant (Kirio). He got a lot of tips because of her. He snorted. _Cute? Y'all should see her in the morning_. He pulled an illussionary rabbit out of a hat, earning claps and cheers, especially from the crowd of children who'd been watching him for hours.

He never did the same trick twice - he'd seen too many shows from Dudley's telly, and he'd learned seven years of magic. Even without Transfiguration, floating water jugs and color changing charms made for lots of amusement.

By the time he was done, he had gathered three thousand Kan. The pair vowed never to stay in a hotel again as Harry dropped the illusion that made Kirio look like she was wearing a Playboy Bunny costume (invented around nine hundred and fifty years into the future or so), and dropped his own, which made him look unnecessarily muscular, and drew attention to his "oh-so pretty" eyes. He shuddered. Playing on the baser nature of souls wasn't fun.

**Harry**

They broke that vow several times, and stayed in several hotels, but began moving much faster. The Districts were getting larger and larger. District Fifteen was at least thirty times the size of District Fifty Eight, and nearly a hundred times the size of District Seventy Three.

It was there that he saw Retsu again.

"Potter-san!" she said, smiling.

I hadn't expected to see her again in years. Soul Society was huge, after all.

"What are you doing around the civilized parts again? Didn't you want to see the world or something?"

"Yes, but I really need to try out for the Academy this time around. I'm just passing through."

"Is everyone in Soul Society going to try out for the Academy?" Harry asked.

Kirio grimaced for a moment. "Maybe a tenth of all of Soul Society's tried out for it at some point. It's one of the only ways out of the ghettos of Seventieth Rukongai and even less dangerous parts of it. This is supposed to be heaven, but even here, a drive to acquire more Kan and neglect those that have less than you has taken root. It's been like this for longer than anyone can remember, longer than the formation of the Gotei Thirteen."

"What's the Gotei Thirteen?"

Retsu shook her head. "If they gave trivia as part of the Shinigami exam, you would never pass, Potter-san. The Gotei Thirteen are the military force that is comprised of the Shinigami. It is led by the Captain Commander Yamamoto, and it was founded by the older man himself, to protect Souls and humans, to defeat Hollows and preserve peace."

"What are Hollows?"

"They're huge monsters that are damaged souls. Only Kido and Zanpakuto have any effect on them. There's no way for physical attacks to damage them. Unfortunately, that isn't the case for Shinigami and Souls - physical attacks can hurt us if they're energy based. Hollows eat other souls to gain power, and the word is that they lack compassion, due to the fact that their heart has been ripped out", said Kirio, who was astounded by Harry's lack of knowledge.

Harry stared for a moment. "I'm relatively sure compassion comes from your brain, and not-"

"When it comes to Souls, things like compassion and love are symbolically placed, not biologically placed", Retsu replied.

"I should have read up on this before I showed up." Harry grimaced. The other two just stared at him.

**Harry**

"Settle down, maggots!", came the booming voice of the Examiner.

There was immediate silence. Harry was impressed - the Shinigami were very respected, it seemed. There were easily thirty thousand people in the courtyard, each of them in their own space.

They were currently outside the gates of West Seireitei, the Court of Pure Souls, and the center of Soul Society. It seemed that District One of West Rukongai, the famously beautiful Junrinan was devoid of Soul presence (save for the Shinigami hopefuls), but when Harry looked again, he realized that hundreds of well dressed men and women were seated by windows next to the huge houses.

"You'd been handed either a red, blue or yellow medallion when you turned in your application! For the first part of the test, you must find a medallion that's the same color of yours. You may only use Hakuda or Hoho. There will be no Kido spells, or any sort of weapons!" the Examiner shouted, possibly aided by a voice-magnifying Kido.

Harry sighed in relief. It seemed that they handed the medallions out in order, and since he, Retsu and Kirio got on line at the same time, their medallions were different colors.

"The exam will be over in fifteen minutes! You may not remove your medallion from plain sight! It begins now!"

Harry chuckled as a huge, rather large Vernon-ish sort of man, complete with the bushy mustache and the puce face lunged at him, thinking he'd be an easy target.

The Hoho lessons from Kirio on the road paid off - even if he had no ability with it at all. It taught him something that was second nature to him already - how to dodge. He coated his hand in Reiryoku and slammed it down on the man's left hand, which was clutching the blue medallion, and the man screamed, dropping it. Harry snatched it up and another Reiryoku filled punch knocked the man out cold. He dodged several opportunists as he watched Retsu and Kirio fight.

Kirio was brutal, efficient, and her fists too were filled with Reiryoku as his were. She didn't even bother picking up most of the dropped medallions, opting to put her appendages into other people's organs, creating snaps and crunches and, sometimes, sickeningly thuds. After she dropped nine men, including a huge, minotaur-like half-human specimen, she was given a wide berth, and she collected all of her ten medallions. The examiner stared at her approvingly.

Retsu was less brutal, but a lot more cruel. Harry gaped at her as she held up a muscular teenager by the throat, her left hand squeezing and pressing her red medallion against his windpipe, choking him intermittently until he willingly let go of his medallion. Harry blushed as she looked directly at him and smiled, but, all the same, was extremely unnerved by the display. Harry realized that he was the only one with two medallions - Kirio and Retsu had both gotten more than five each.

He realized too late that he should have been attempting to gather more medallions when they were carted away in a large group of people with more than three medallions each - most of them were rather large and formidable looking, but had less than Kirio.

There were around two thousand people with two medallions left, and another, less important looking man announced that he'd be testing them on Kido, and that if they didn't do well, they wouldn't advanced.

He called them up by alphabetical order, and only reached Harry after two hours and at least a thousand failures, with forty passes or so.

"Show me the strongest Kido you know."

Harry thought for a moment.

"I don't have all day!"

Harry nodded, and thought carefully of a lightning strike. Unbeknown to him, his eyes had begun to glow.

"Hurry up!"

"What do you want me to hit?"

The examiner looked bored for a moment. "Hado? There's a block of stone over there." He gestured. "Don't even worry about dama-"

_Crack_- _BOOOM!_

A huge jet of lightning lanced down from the relatively sunny sky, and split the stone in half, sending powdered rock and shrapnel flying towards them. The examiner's eyes widened in shock as a huge boulder flew toward the crowd.

Harry thought of several spells that might work, but they were all transfiguration and conjuration based, and settled for a third year spell that had saved his life once, and quickly converted his thoughts from Magic to Reiatsu.

_Arresto Momentum_, he thought fiercely, throwing his palms out. The shrapnel sat in the air for a moment, then when he cut off the flow to his Reiryoku, they dropped to the ground. The examiner, who looked ready to run away, nodded quickly.

"P-pass!" he half-shouted, half-whimpered, and though it was almost drowned out under the sound of whispers and mumbles, Harry heard it. He almost didn't notice the little black butterfly that the examiner sent off after his display, even as he moved to the next courtyard.

"What took you so long?" asked Kirio. "It's been two hours, and maybe forty or so people have trickled in, and they aren't starting the Zanjutsu test until everyone's present." She leaned in conspiratorially. "Only four people have Zanpakutos. None of them have communicated with them yet, but they're certain to enter Class One in the Academy. Don't worry, you'll definitely be an Academy student by the time this is through."

"Fufufufufu! I like to think that I would be the one deciding that, young lady!" came the voice of a very old man with a long, braided beard and a bald head. He was holding a cane of some sort that was emit a steady steam of Reiryoku.

Harry sprang back. "Don't point that at me, please!" he gestured at the cane.

"Fufufufufufu!" the old man laughed even louder. "Little runt knows what's in my staff, don't you!"

Harry looked at the man who was definitely older than Albus Dumbledore, and possibly wiser for a moment before answering, "I'm not sure, but from what I know about Shinigami, your Zanpakuto's in there, right? I feel Reiryoku, and an inexplicable burning sensation when I stare at it."

The old man laughed again. Harry decided that while the laugh was a bit strange, he liked the old man. "You are correct, of course. I have half a mind to pass you right this minute. This is the Ryujin Jakka, the greatest of the Flame Zanpakuto. Very soon, if you're not entirely useless with your weapon, you might discover your own Zanpakuto. Now", his voice boomed again, "who here is Potter Harry?"

"I am, sir."

"Fufufufufufu!" the man laughed. "I suspected it, but I didn't know. You have a future with our Kido corps, I'm sure. The examiner told me you summoned a Level Sixty Three Kido without an incantantion, splitting a marble block into over a hundred pieces, and stopped the shrapnel with merely a thought! There might be some strength in you yet, brat!"

Harry smiled. The man seemed to be open, and much less demanding than Albus Dumbledore. He got lost on memory lane for a moment, thinking of the time when he smashed all of Dumbledore's silver gadgets and doodads in his office. By the time he looked up, the old man was gone, and everyone was staring at him in terror or shock, including Kirio. Retsu's smile never left her face.

"The Captain-Commander seems to think highly of you, Potter-san", said Retsu.

"That was the Captain Commander? Wow, he's old! But that Zanpakuto's very, very powerful!"

"Idiot!" Kirio said, punch Harry on the shoulder lightly, "Of course the Captain Commander's Zanpakuto would be very powerful!"

"Settle down, Maggots!" the first examiner proclaimed. Harry groaned - they were closer to him, and his voice hadn't lowered significantly. There were now two hundred students in the room. "Those of you in the room have made the cut. You are the next rookie class of Shinigami Academy! We're doing our final bit of cutting here - anyone who has no experience with weapons at all will be removed, unfortunately. We don't have time to babysit you!"

Harry nodded unconsciously. He would have to make a good showing with his Spear.

"Aoko Hiro!" the Examiner called out, and the first student, a man holding a chain, went up to fight the examiner.

The Examiner was swift, and brutal, tearing through the students with ease and nearly deadly force. Harry noticed that the Captain Commander was watching from a balcony, along with several other teachers or important Shinigami.

"Hikifune Kirio!"

She was holding a tanto in a reverse grip, parrying the Examiner's easier strikes. She had lasted longer than the majority of the other students when the Examiner-turned-teacher jumped back and drew his sword. It was a relatively normal katana. "You're very good, but today, I will be testing you to your limits!" he cried, charging forward.

Kirio's mastery over Hoho had increased dramatically in the past months, and combined with her ability to manipulate Reiryoku, the several hits that she did take were shallow, and healed quickly. She lasted another eight minutes before the examiner finally got under her guard and held the sword to her throat.

"Very good, Hikifune-san. You'll be put in Class One for sure", the teacher nodded in respect. Kirio bowed.

"Potter Harry!"

Harry stepped up, the Veiled Spear held in a loose grip. He gave a wave to the Captain Commander, who he waved back.

"Get a weapon, Potter-san."

Harry held up his Spear, and gestured at it. By now, everyone was frowning.

"Are you insane, Potter-san? There's nothing in your hands."

"Yes there is. It's my Zanpakuto, and very possibly only visible to me, but I'm sure you can feel it."

"Is that so?" the teacher asked, looking vaguely annoyed and slightly amused. He suddenly charged forward, his sheathed Katana swinging towards Harry.

_Clack!_

Mostly everyone jumped in shock, and Kirio smirked. Retsu's smile, beautiful, pristine and unwavering, grew a bit wider. The distinct laughter of the Captain Commander was heard, as well as words such as "interesting" and "I couldn't sense it myself".

"Can you make it visible?"

"And lose my advantage? I think not. I can see it perfectly fine." Harry swung the spear around, and only Harry's hand motions had warned him of what could only be a Zanpakuto. There was neither sound nor wind accompanying it, and the teacher decided that when Harry became a Shinigami, he would be a very powerful opponent indeed - there was no doubt in his mind that he'd go to Class One.

_Clack! Thock! Clang!_

The teacher had drawn his Zanpakuto for the second time, and was now slashing and dicing furiously to keep up with Harry's obviously longer reach. The teacher began to use Shunpo to keep bridge the two feet of distance every once in a while, but Harry, while being generally bad at Hoho, was able to block each of the teacher's strikes.

"Enough! I cannot allow you to enter the Academy if you have not been defeated, Potter-san. Prepare yourself!"

"Is he going to release Shikai?" a teacher on the balcony screeched. Yamamoto silenced her with a raised forefinger, and he actually flashed down to view the fight in greater detail.

"Thunder, thunder, hear my cry!" The blade grew longer, and electricity crackled on it.

Harry blanched as a thunderbolt flew towards him, and he instinctively hit it with the Spear. When he realized the teacher's victorious grin, he knew he'd been fooled, and waited for the shock.

It never came. The Spear absorbed the electricity as if it never existed, to the surprise of even the Captain Commander.

Despite the ineffectiveness of the lightning blade, Harry was having more trouble now, since the sword was longer.

He made a decision that he would come to regret later. He jumped back and pointed the Spear at the teacher.

"Light in the Heart of Man, Lance of Blood and Water!"

Shock. Pure shock. The Captain Commander's jaw was comically wide, and even Retsu stopped smiling as Harry's Shikai, the Unveiled Spear showed itself. The milky white Reiatsu that only Harry could see turned green and overwhelming, bringing the majority of the students to their knees, as the spearpoint of beaten gold and shaft of silver from which the Veil fluttered slightly was made known.

"Enough! I will not have two Shikai war for dominance in Rukongai!" Yamamoto roared, as he felt the Spirit King's Reiryoku was made known. "Pass! Class One, I'll escort him to the dormitories later! Potter-san, if you will follow me."

Harry walked after the Captain Commander, veiling his Spear. Yamamoto grabbed him lightly by the arm, and in a literal flash, they were on a secluded balcony.

There was a tense silence for a moment, when the Captain Commander spoke again. "Why is your Reiryoku so different?"

If anything, that was not what Harry was expecting. "I don't follow sir. How is it different, exactly?"

"There is a certain... fullness to it when you release your Shikai, a signature that is only shared by one other entity on this plane. How can you explain it?"

Harry thought carefully, then responded. "I don't know. But I have a sort of connection to my past life on Earth that most Souls don't seem to have. I retain all of my memories."

The Captain Commander looked at him sharply. "It is true that memory retention is a one-in-a-million case. But that doesn't explain the Reiryoku."

"When I was living, I was a Wizard. Wizards were capable of Kido, but not the use of Reiryoku. We named it Magic instead, and used the energy generated by the act of living and breathing to fuel it. I was, to be frank, a rather exceptional wizard, and I had been exposed to many types of magic that other wizards have not. I discovered the Spear at the end of my days, and was able to wield it to defeat my greatest enemy."

"How old were you when you died?" the Captain-Commander asked, intrigued.

"I was very nearly eighteen when I entered Soul Society."

The Captain-Commander nodded. "You're in Class One, the fast-track to becoming a seated Shinigami on the Gotei Thirteen now. With your proficiency in Zanjutsu, and your mastery of Kido, which I am ashamed to say exceeded mine at your age, you will have the pick of the division that you will join upon graduation. I know this is a question that you will have years to contemplate, but you will be welcome among the Kido Corps and the Eleventh Division with ease."

"With all due respect, sir, which Division are you the head of?"

"Division One, the hand-picked leaders of the Gotei Thirteen. We are the most exclusive, and even someone showing your potential would be hard-pressed to enter our ranks."

Harry's only true personality connection to Slytherin reared up within him. "How can I prove that I will be able to join Division One as a Seated Officer?"

_Hook, line and sinker_, thought Yamamoto, as he fought the urge to belly laugh in triumph. "Perhaps you can demonstrate why you are useful to Soul Society as an elite."

Harry frowned for a moment. "How many Kido are there, sir?"

"Ninety-nine, in increasing levels of difficulty. I am inclined to believe the reports that claim you know Kido Number Sixty Three, but you're still centuries too early when it comes to learning high level Kido, brat." In reality, it was very likely that he was not centuries too early, but Yamamoto had to hold his age over the boy somehow.

"Will you let me into Division One if I learn all of the Ninety nine Kido of Destruction?"

Yamamoto stared at Harry, nonplussed. He had thought the boy would demand the ninety-ninth Kido from him, or something ridiculously full of hubris. But Harry had been quiet and sincere about his ambition. He laughed, for a long while. "I suppose so. But I will have to disband the Kido corps to keep their claws off of you. Very well. If you can learn every destructive Kido in existence, I will give you a seated position in First Division."

The smile that Yamamoto gave made it very clear that Harry would regret his choice. Harry shuddered involuntarily as the Captain Commander fought the urge to do victory laps around Rukongai.

"Now, I'm going to take you to your dormitories, if the battle have finished. Otherwise, we'll view the rest of them."

He flashed Harry back to the courtyard, where Retsu was fighting with the teacher.

"Yamamoto-sama, they've been fighting for nearly twenty minutes!"

"Her name?"

"Unohana Retsu, Yamamoto-sama." The Captain Commander nodded. It seemed that this year had brought a windfall of very promising candidates.

Harry winced as a frowning Retsu (he didn't know Retsu could frown) blocked a strike from the teacher's Shikai with her katana and she ripped a muscle out of the man with a trench knife in her left hand.

"She's vicious, isn't she?" Kirio remarked. Retsu finally managed to slam her fist onto the teacher's temple, knocking the Shinigami out, and she smiled at Harry in victory, who returned a thumbs up. Once again, the courtyard was shocked.

"Pass! Class one!" shouted the Captain Commander, who, according to Kirio, had founded the Academy to begin with. The rest of the students were defeated with extreme speed by the Captain Commander himself, and he gestured at the teachers to lead the students to the Academy.

"Right, that's five people in class one", Retsu said brightly.

"Me, Harry, you, the Shihoin kid and the Kuchiki girl."

It was very clear, very quickly that neither the Shihoin boy nor the Kuchiki girl wanted to associate with any of them.

"Please don't bother me, Classmate", said Shihoin Yoruhiko, rather coldly, but very politely.

"You think you're all so great, just because you can beat a second rate Shinigami, or use your Zanpakuto", Kuchiki Masami snarled at them.

Retsu shook her head as Harry looked away and Kirio began cursing up a storm.

Harry and the Shihoin boy shared a dormitory, which was, according to the teachers, larger than the dorms given to those in Class Two, and much larger than those given to those in Class Five - they were packed like sardines, apparently.

Their room was around ten meters by twelve meters, and feature two bathrooms, a refrigerator, a wide-screen television, a screen that separated them when they were sleeping, and, best of all, very large beds that were very soft, and of better quality than anything Harry had ever slept in.

He woke bright and early (with the help of an alarm kido on the clock), made liberal use of the private bathroom, then dressed quickly in one of the ten or twelve uniforms that he'd been given by the academy, and headed down to the Kido orientation that was posted on a schedule board that the maids had left notices on, pausing only to grab a pen and a notebook.

As he walked into what looked like a college lecture hall containing all two hundred of the rookie level students, he realized that instead of the hard plastic seats that most of the students were sitting in, there were five, leather seats at the front of the room reserved for the members of Class One. He took the seat next to Kirio as the hall began to fill up.

"Amazing what type of special treatment we're getting, right?" Retsu whispered, as she sat in the seat to the left of Harry.

"Is there a less arrogant way to say that we might deserve this?" Kirio smiled.

"You commoners believe that these accommodations are adequate?" the Kuchiki girl sneered. Harry ignored her - she reminded him of quite a bunch of people he had known in Hogwarts, but Kirio bristled.

"This is going to be a very long six years, isn't it, Harry-san?"

Harry smiled at Retsu.


	4. Academy Life

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter, Naruto Uzumaki, nor Bleach.

Summary: Harry's the Master of Death now. But what does that really mean? Follow the adventures of the Boy-Who-Lived, thrown through space and Time to prepare him for a confrontation a spirit of Life who hasn't been doing a good job.

**Harry**

Kido class was a lot of fun, especially since he knew more about the properties of Reiryoku than his instructors. While the Shinigami of Soul Society had been around longer than Wizarding folk, Harry had a several thousands of years of refinement to draw upon, and Soul Society had stayed stagnant in Reiryoku theory until Yamamoto had founded the Gotei Thirteen and the Kido Corps.

"I'm sorry, sensei, but that's incorrect. Your flow of Reiryoku isn't cumulative but logarithmic. It will take more power to cast a Ninety Ninth Kido than ninety nine First Kido. We can't compare Reiryoku to a bucket of water."

Of course, that led to more than a little bit of resentment from most students, especially Kuchiki Masami. Harry was undeterred - he had made a promise to master all ninety nine Kido before he graduated to the Captain Commander himself, and he'd be damned if he let anyone hold him back.

He quickly learned that Class One students were exempt from taking classes that they didn't want to - they just had to show up for evaluations and training. As a result, after several lessons, Harry, Kirio, Retsu and Shihoin Yoruhiko were nowhere to be seen. The first three went off together, and the Shihoin trained alone.

The Kido training grounds were huge, comprising of as much space as District Seventy Three, and it was neatly sectioned off for safety purposes, into low, medium and high level training areas. Harry, Kirio and Retsu congregated every morning at Low Eight, which was a little more grassy than the other areas, and secluded, as the only students who used the Kido training grounds early morning were Fifth Year students spread about the Medium areas.

Harry mastered the first fourteen Kido in a day. While it was difficult to manipulate the elements with the use of Magic, it was very easy with the use of Reiryoku, and Harry's intimate knowledge of how use utilize Hado helped both Kirio and Retsu out.

"This is really easy", commented Retsu, and the Fourth Kido, Pale Lightning, lanced from her fingers. She twitched her fingers, and the lightning began to dance.

"I hate you two", Kirio glared as she concentrated and prepared the incantation for the Byakurai again. "Blue is the flash of fate, thunder crashes as the sky bellows and growls, and power comes to the North!"

A weak jet of lightning jumped at Harry, whose Reiryoku blocked it instantaneously, negating the demonic art.

"Oh, I wasn't aware that we were allowed to fire at Harry", Retsu grinned, and the lightning which taken the shape of dancers and was performing an intricate kind of tango rushed at Harry, who yelped and unraveled the lightning with his Hado Twelve: Void Blast, which slowly imploded on itself.

"Merlin, woman! Watch where you're aiming", Harry yelped again, and another Void Blast swallowed up a gout of flame that Retsu had sent his way. He spent the rest of the morning dodging and absorbing attacks, as well as lamenting the fact that he could have completed at least six more Kido.

**Harry**

As much of a genius as Harry was in Kido, he was a failure in Hoho. Despite spending an hour concentrating heavily in the special leather seat reserved for members of Class One, and hours of training by Retsu and Kirio, he was unable to use Shunpo. Retsu proved to be as much of a genius as she was normally, mastering it on her second or third try, but Kirio truly shined when it came to the Flash Step. She had known how to use Hoho instinctively when she fought, but after the teachers described it to her, she was able to move as fast as a Seated Officer.

Harry stared, entirely frustrated, on the eve of his third month at Shinigami Academy, having mastered eighty three destructive Kido, and the lowest level of Hoho - speeding up his punches and kicks. While he was able to wrap his arms and hands in Reiryoku, and project it to disrupt Retsu's use of Shunpo, he only ended up slowing Kirio down a little, and getting beaten to the ground.

But he had made progress, and Hakuda instruction was starting the next day, replacing Kido training - hand to hand combat and magic alternated every three months. Zanjutsu training and Hoho classes alternated every six months.

To celebrate three months of hard work, he was showing Kirio, Retsu, and, unknown to him, the Captain-Commander, his strongest Kido spell, for which he decided that a stabilizing incantation was a good idea.

"Hado Number Eighty Eight, Flight! The world immolating dragon that rears back for an attack! Enlightened attack, the sitting stream of power realized and not! The balance which holds the heavens in check to judge the pain of innocent lightning, the humility which holds the earth in suspense to understand the suffering of booming thunder, the chastity which holds the heart in refuge to love the destruction of shaking the heavens. Fly first, fast, far and obey the resolve of the Demon Arts!"

The Hiryugekizokushintenraiho, named as the Flying Dragon that Strikes the Striking Heavens: Thunder Cannon was normally a bolt of blue that resulted in a huge explosion, Harry's additions to it, the three-part phrase about the pain of lightning, the suffering of booming thunder and the love of destruction had converted it into a bolt of Avada Kedavra green that resulted in the utter annihilation of the high level training field before finally exploding with so much force that in half a minute, three captains were present, all of which were pointing their zanpakuto at Harry.

Yamamoto stepped from his hiding spot, making it seem as if he'd arrived via Shunpo. "What happened here, Potter-san?"

"Hado Number Eighty Eight, Captain Commander."

"It usually doesn't cause this much destruction. I was not aware that this much Reiryoku could be released without the use of the ninetieth set of Hado." The captains stared incredulously at the Academy student who claimed that he was able to utilize the eighty eighth Hado, and found themselves questioning whether or not the Captain Commander had become senile.

"So the original incantation, which I don't need, is Flight, the world immolating dragon that rears back for an attack, enlightened attack, et cetera, et cetera. Between the power realized and not, there is nothing. The attack clause, Fly first, follows immediately after the power not realized. In order to realize the power, I developed a three-part release sequence." Harry paused to make sure that everyone was listening carefully.

"The first is The balance which holds the heavens in check to judge the pain of innocent lightning, which increases the Reiryoku's efficiency by at least thirty percent, pushing it from the level of an Eightieth set to a Ninetieth set. I think that has the side effect of turning it green." Yamamoto nodded. That was logical.

"The second bit is The humility which holds the earth in suspense to understand the suffering of booming thunder. That allows the blast portion to act longer, vaporizing things that would only have been charred originally." This was new - he didn't expect such an innovation to what people believed to be one of the few complete Kido. But Harry wasn't done.

Harry's tone took on a slight edge of pride. "The final bit is the masterpiece, and I worked for nearly a month to come up with it. It is The chastity which holds the heart in refuge to love the destruction of shaking the heavens, a way to magnify the explosion sequence. Originally, I had leaned towards a command phrase that would extend the power, the strength, or the duration of the explosion, but it destabilized it and resulted in less power."

"Understandable. The explosion was a magnitude stronger than usual. Are you going to give away what your third command phrase does, or will I have to figure it out for myself?" the Captain-Commander smiled, looking anticipatory and encouraging, an expression that Harry would have fought to see on the face of Albus Dumbledore.

"Compression. The power of an explosion is the contained potential energy beforehand, and by holding it back, it agitates it just long enough that the explosion rips straight through the constraints even as they drop. It was most opportune that it comes after an elongated blast portion."

"Well, you learn something everyday. The captains and I will take our leave, the Kido corps needs to be informed of this innovation."

"Wait!" Harry shouted suddenly. "Tell them that it's really, really important to coat your hands in Reiryoku. I nearly flash-fried my blood when I was testing it the first time." Harry pointed to the raw-looking concentric circles on his palms. Yamamoto smiled. The boy was so very noble - he didn't even attempt to ensure that he got credit.

**Harry**

"Too slow." Harry's chest felt like it had been caved in with a sledgehammer. Kirio was a tad bit harder on him during Hakuda class than their normal training.

He supposed it was only fair. He was a right slavedriver when it came to teaching her Kido, and she seemed to have a need to humiliate him in front of Retsu. He wondered for a moment if the girl who called him outoto-chan knew he had his eyes on Retsu, then decided that she was too dim.

Kirio was quite intelligent, but more than a little bit lacking when it came to human interaction - it came from thirty years of living alone in District Fifty Eight.

The thing about the souls in Soul Society was that they aged very slowly, physically at least, and their general isolation meant that they matured just as slowly. Retsu, who had been in Soul Society for nearly sixty years, acted the same age as Kirio, most likely due to the fact that she spent thirty five years being ignored in the District Ten orphanage, and another twenty five years learning Kenpo.

Her skill with the sword, for a civilian at least, had peaked ten years ago, and she had been looking for someone to teach her Kido for just as long. Harry and Kirio were rather envious. She was so good at everything she did - sure, Harry's knowledge of Kido was easily deeper and stronger than anyone in Soul Society, but she picked up the things he had needed years to learn in days.

Harry worried about Retsu. She was a bit of a borderline psychopath - her cruelty was so very apparent when she sparred against their classmates. But she had designated Harry and Kirio as her anchors to human emotion and reality. Harry wondered what it was like, to be so good at everything that it seemed like a dream. In the three months that he had known Retsu, she had grown from looking like a sixteen year old to a woman in her late twenties, indicative of her mental growth.

Harry remembered that appearance of someone in Soul Society was much more symbolic than actual.

He snapped back to attention as the teacher began describing certain grapples.

**Harry**

Harry finally developed Shunpo five months from his enrollment into Shinigami Academy. He had received the innovation from watching Hakuda matches of hundreds of his fellow students, until he forced enough Reiryoku into his optic nerves to fry them. Aside from the fact that he leaked blood out of his left eye (which was more strained for some reason), he was able to track even Seated Officers using Shunpo easily. The Captain-Commander was still a flash made flesh, and the Shihoin boy, who spent all his time learning Shunpo variations could not be hit in their spars, though the Reiryoku skin that Harry used stopped him from dealing anything but glancing blows.

Reiryoku was more and more unlike magic, it seemed, as each day passed. Harry developed so many uses for it that he would have never thought possible with magic. Not only could his newly christened Spirit Skin deflect Sealed Zanpakuto, if he poured Reiryoku into his muscles, he was able to break rocks with his bare hands. But the most powerful use was that he could pump it into his brain, firing his neurons, and forcing them into overdrive.

He could use it to make himself smarter, though it increased his aggressiveness and threw his hormones (which were still produced) into a frenzy. It was how he had developed the refined Eighty Eighth Hado. He had recently stopped training Kido altogether - he had mastered all the Eightieth Hado, but he wasn't ready to move onto the Ninetieth set in his spare time. He opted to rest for a month before he engaged Hado Ninety, the Black Coffin, which was on a level of difficulty that was beyond that of the Thunder Cannon.

It was four days before Zanjutsu lessons in which Retsu sat him down and demanded that he teach her how to find her Zanpakuto.

"Right, Retsu-chan. I don't really know how I found my Zanpakuto, but I guess I can ask it for you."

He pulled the Wand, the Stone and the Cloak out of the Containment rune, and put them on, then laid his Veiled Spear on his lap. In an instance, he was

"_Back again, Harry?"_

_He jumped. "Light. How do I help someone discover their Zanpakuto?" he immediately asked, before the Soul Splitting Spirit could get comfortable._

_She looked at him for a moment, then smirked, and shifted into a perfect image of Retsu, then slowly began removing her Academy uniform. "Maybe you can convince me to tell you?"_

_She slid a hand over her-_

"_Light!" Harry barked, half-annoyed and half-aroused. "Can you not do this every time I-"_

_She shifted into an image of his mother again, and Harry began cursing a blue streak. Several minutes of curses that no seventeen year old, or seventy year old, for that matter, should have known, she sighed and shifted back to her original form._

"_I want something for this. I am the Slytherin in you, you know."_

_Harry glared. "I'll never be as bad as you."_

"_Of course not, I am the extreme. You might, however, become as powerful as I am."_

_Harry stared for moment. "What do you mean by that?"_

_She looked contrite. "I'm tired of these games, Harry. I just want you to want me. I might be the Slytherin in you, but I'm also the part of you that craves acceptance. Why do you think you were ambitious to begin with? It was for the want of attention, of acknowledgement. Why are you so excited when Yamamoto compliments you, when you taught Dumbledore's Army. Why are you here to help Retsu, who will be competing with you for a job in the Gotei Thirteen, find her Zanpakuto? It's because of me. I'm the reason you're not a cold, detached Kido master, but a living, breathing inventor of spells. I'm the reason you're not lonely, the reason you love. I am-"_

"_The power he knew not. I can't in good conscience want you the same way you want me. We're in my mind. This is literally an MPD nightmare. I can't just have a relationship with one of my personalities, even if she's beautiful, or the reason I'm powerful."_

"_I see." Light pulled in a deep breath. "Any Shinigami exposed to the handle of my Shikai will be able to find their Zanpakuto. Make sure you clear it with Yamamoto first, he might have some misgivings. He's been watching you very carefully, you know."_

"_Really?"_

"_Silly boy, what would you do without me?" Light planted a kiss on Harry's lips, and-_

Suddenly, he was in his room with Retsu and Kirio again.

"I need to speak with the Captain-Commander, Retsu, Kirio. Now." He jumped up and through the window, showcasing his newly discovered ability in levitation.

"Yamamoto-sama!" Harry shouted at the top of his lungs. "If you here, can you please come out, I have to talk to you!"

Nothing happened, and Retsu ended up dragging him back through the window, even as some of the Sixth Year students stared at him as if he were insane.

"I'm sort of unhappy. There's no way to get money here", Kirio groaned as she searched through Harry's nearly empty refrigerator. Without a clan, or even a family, no one sent any of them money, and they lived on the admittedly delicious school food, three meals a day.

**Harry**

It was two days before Light told him that the Captain-Commander was around. He seemed to be observing the Hakuda practices, so Harry shouted again. In less than a millisecond, Yamamoto's fist had crashed into his face. "Potter you idiot! The whole point of this observation is to be discreet!"

Harry groaned as his Reiryoku healed his split lip. "Right, So-Taichou. I was speaking to my Zanpakuto, and she's convinced that whoever touches her Shikai would be able to manifest their own Zanpakuto. Light told me to clear it with you before I summoned her First Release."

The Captain-Commander stared at the Academy student with no small amount of consternation. "You say that your Zanpakuto is the key to unlocking others? Well, I was never one to restrict the progress of my Shinigami. Go ahead."

"_Light in the Heart of Man, Lance of Blood and Water!_"

The radiance of the Unveiled Spear was always beautiful to behold. Retsu put her hand uncertainly on the silver shaft of the spear, and there was a flash of light. She was thrown back, and a sheathed nodachi appeared, stuck into the ground next to her head. She grabbed it, equal parts possessive and reverent, as if it would disappear.

Not to be outdone, Kirio repeated the process, and was left with a Wazikashi.

"You are a very special soul indeed, Potter Harry", said the pensive Captain-Commander.

**Harry**

Zanjutsu was annoying for Harry. It seemed that he had the only spear in the entirety of the Shinigami Corps, and while it was fun to have a rare weapon (that nobody could see), it wasn't very conducive to learning.

The problem was quickly solved, by Kirio, who, while meditating with her Zanpakuto, discovered that the there was no better teacher than the Spirit itself. Neither Kirio nor Retsu had been able to divine the name of their Zanpakuto yet, but they were able to learn skills far beyond what they originally possessed from their respective swords.

Light refused to teach Harry, citing that he his true power lay in wands and not Spears, annoying the boy to no end.

These were the conditions when the Captain-Commander gave them clearance for their first Hollow-killing trip.


	5. A Lack of Progress

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter, Naruto Uzumaki, nor Bleach.

Summary: Harry's the Master of Death now. But what does that really mean? Follow the adventures of the Boy-Who-Lived, thrown through space and Time to prepare him for a confrontation a spirit of Life who hasn't been doing a good job.

Author's Note: Harry's stats. Offense - 20. Defense - 30. Mobility - 10. Kido/Reiatsu - 100. Intelligence - 80. Physical Strength - 10. Heavily unbalanced 250/600. General Seated Officer has 50's all around, earning a 300/600.

Author's Note: Let it be known that most Bleach Crossovers piss me off. There are a few marked exceptions. My own work is starting to move into the "pisses me off" zone, unfortunately, but only because it's damned hard to write.

On that note (literally), check out my C2, www. fanfiction. net/ community/ Breaking_ the_ Boundaries_ between_ Worlds_ Good_ Crossovers /93077/

**Harry**

Harry barely drew his Zanpakuto when he confronted people in all-weapon spars. He liked to think that his Kido was more than enough to handle them, and it generally was. His control over his Reiryoku meant that he could maintain around eight or nine medium level spells at once, and even three Eightieth rank Kido. He didn't even know any Bakudo, preferring to use Hado to solve all of his problems.

He won all his spars - even against Retsu. While she could make her Byakurai (Kido Four) Lightning dance around, he was able to control each aspect of his Raikoho (Kido Sixty Three) Lightning turn multiple corners and track people instinctively.

He never used truly destructive Kido (Raikoho was difficult enough to keep others from electrocution) on his classmates, but he was never lenient on, say, Kuchiki Masami, whose hair had been burnt off twice by huge dragons of flame.

Most Academy students were tougher than Hollows. But that didn't mean that Harry didn't go completely overboard.

"Hado Numbers Eighty Two, Eighty Three and Eighty Five. As the world stands and watches you drown, wood bows and steel bends under the might of tradition and process. Seven drops of blood, two shards of glass and three ill thoughts come together to discuss knowledge lost and found. Found is the extension of water in four forms. God of the Storm, entertain me!"

It began raining, and when the droplets hit the three or four hollows in the clearing, they became shards of glass, wood and steel that lacerated every inch of the Hollows. An instantly created flood shredded the rest of the Hollows in half.

"Unbelievable! I was totally going to kill that one!" shouted Kirio, who pointed at a pair of what looked like huge iron spider legs. Harry shrugged uncomfortably when an instructor shouted about admirable Kido usage.

**Harry**

He was falling behind. It was a terrible feeling. It had been a year since they had entered the Academy together, and while his Kido had only improved, it had already been at a level higher than even most Captains. His Zanjutsu was ridiculously bad - if not for Reiryoku augments that he and Kirio used, he wouldn't have been able to defeat the majority of the other students. His Hakuda was on par with most of the Class Two students, but miles behind Retsu, who was still far behind Kirio. His Shunpo could be held only long enough to escape the wandering swordpoints and edges of Zanpakuto that everyone was starting to manifest.

Worse yet, he had hit a glass ceiling when it came to Kido. He was capable of every Hado but the Four Legendary Demonic Arts of Destruction, the Single Blade Cremation, the Five Element Meteor Strike, the Divine Judgment, and the unnamed Ninety Ninth Hado.

He knew what they entailed - Spiritual Sacrifice that could only be appeased with the use of Magic. But the release of his Shikai sent four or five captains to him each time, and if they arrived at the wrong spot while he was performing the least of them - the Single Blade Cremation, they would all die, despite their strength. It was simply a faster spell than the majority of Shunpo in existence, and even the Captain-Commander admitted that he would be hard pressed to dodge it without losing a limb.

The Five Element Meteor Strike, Hado Ninety Seven, would have wiped Seireitei off the face of Rukongai, and the majority of the first ten districts on each side. The Divine Judgment, which increased gravity to such a degree that it trapped the affected area in time itself was not to be used, ever. No one had ever used Hado Number Ninety Nine, but the opinion of the scroll's author, the Captain-Commander's Kido-sensei, who had been defeated by a group of Vasto Lorde Hollows several hundred years ago, was that it would cause the plane to implode upon itself for the cost of the practitioner's life.

Once again, Harry realized how much power Light truly possessed, to be able to offset the cost of the Four Legendary Hado... He suspected that it had something to do with the power of the Stone and the Cloak.

On the bright side, the Captain-Commander had promised Harry the Twelth Seat in the First Division when he graduated, which was only subject to increase in rank as he progressed, when Harry demonstrated the first Ninety Five Hado to him. Harry was left with the Ninety Nine Bakudo as his next year-long project, which Yamamoto had commissioned extremely expensive Reigai bodies which had no souls and would react appropriately to the Bakudo for.

Yamamoto told him that if he completed the Ninety Nine Bakudo in a year (the Bakudo didn't have any truly legendary powers, unlike the Hado), he would be entitled to the Eighth seat, which was the next vacant position in the First Division.

Besides learning the Kido himself, he also taught Kirio and Retsu. He always laughed when Kirio grumbled about how many there were, remembering the thousands of spells that he had learned over the space of seven years at Hogwarts and the tens of thousands that he was sure Dumbledore had forgotten, when the old man had lived.

He wasn't going to be the only one with a Shikai anymore. Retsu had discovered the name of her Zanpakuto already. Minazuki was much more helpful than Light. Minazuki wanted Retsu to improve, and he wasn't afraid of taking Retsu into the world of the Zanpakuto often.

Harry knew he was lying to himself. Light loved it when he visited once in a while, but he was scared of her. She was inextricably tied to him, and therefore had a way of getting under his skin that sometimes made him rage impotently, shiver and weep like an abused child, or hurt like his heart was getting ripped out of his chest. The problem was that unlike most Zanpakuto, she literally split his personality, and took all the dominance and strength from him. She ruled in the world she created, and the only thing she was unable to do was keep him from leaving.

Despite the games that Light played, Harry sensed that she truly wanted him to improve. She told him stories about the world that he knew that he hadn't known before, legends made true, with twists that the fairy tales they had originally come from didn't even anticipate, and other slices of living four or five thousand years before his time that always taught him lessons about Reiryoku, Magic, or power in general. That was why Harry always went back.

He sat with the Hallows and began to meditate again, and-

He was on the hill he had met Light on again. He looked around, trying to spot her, and felt the warm breath that never failed to send shudders through him caress his ear.

"_Yet again, you come, Harry."_

_Harry hated her voice. It was equal parts inviting and chastising, seductive and concerned. It was also the voice of his mother. Light's real voice was lighter, more feathery and the comparison between the voice she adopted and her actual voice was somewhat the same as the relation between Magic and Reiryoku, the difference between flesh and spirit._

"_Hello again, Light in the Heart of Man."_

"_Are you admitting that you aren't a man?" she asked, rather pleased by his greeting. Harry scowled._

_They were silence for a moment. Silences were common between them, but they were never uncomfortable, because they understood each other very well - each facial tick of Harry's, and twitching of lips by Light said more than words._

"_The Death Hallows were created when the Spirit King was the only Death God in the world. Do you know who was his Soul Shearer, Harry?"_

_Harry knew._

"_He is the brother of Fate, tied inextricably by his older sister to the twins and lovers, Izanagi and Izanami. He wielded the first Soul Shearer to draw Izanami into Rukongai, where the true darkness of her soul came into the light, and Izanagi split the worlds to flee from her. The Dangai and the Hueco Mundo, two dimensions between Rukongai and the Plane of the Mortal Coil-"_

"_Why do you always refer to Earth as the Plane of the Mortal Coil?"_

"_The Ouroboros, the first rune of the Sumerian language, was forged by Izanagi on Earth, and it is the domain of the Living due to his power."_

_Harry nodded, and another silence commenced._

"_So Izanami promised her brother, her lover, that she would claim a hundred souls a day until he found a way to bridge the gap between them. He responded in fear, telling her that he would create a hundred and fifty souls a day as long as she did so. The Spirit King was annoyed at his two youngest siblings and told them that he, too would create a plan where only he could reside in peace, and forged the Key of the King, the Oken, with a piece of Izanagi's soul, a piece of Izanami's and a piece of his own, and used it to create a gate that could only be opened by the Key. Then, he split his soul into two parts, a large part and a small part. He gave the larger part of his soul to Izanagi, so all humans created would exhibit some of his power, and the Oken to Izanami, who would give it to her champion. The Oken existed, still exists in Rukongai. Who do you think holds the Key of the King?"_

_Harry knew that it would be the oldest and most powerful Shinigami in Rukongai - Yamamoto himself, who had founded the Shinigami Academy a thousand years ago, and the Gotei Thirteen a century back._

"_A Hollow is that which lives without the auspices of the Hallows. They are empty because they have lost the blessing of the Spirit King, because they have destroyed Izanagi's gift. Do you know what anchors the gift of the Spirit King to the planes? Do you know what gives Izanagi the right to imbue souls with Zanpakuto? Do you know what hides the true might of the Oken?"_

"_The Wand, the Stone, and the Cloak."_

"_You are correct, Harry. You have ahead of you, the longest and hardest route to Bankai, Harry."_

"_Bankai?"_

"_Bankai is the true form, the final form of your Zanpakuto. The Shikai may unseal it, but the Bankai powers it."_

"_You! You are the Death Hallows! Oh Merlin damn it, of all..."_

"_That is indeed correct. You will achieve Bankai not when you defeat me, because such a feat is impossible. I am become Death, I am the Light in the Heart of Man, the Lance of Blood and Water, the Spear that Longinus used to pierce the Gigai of the Spirit King. You will achieve Bankai when you join Magic and Reiryoku within yourself, when you transcend labels such as Human or Shinigami."_

_There was silence again._

"_A kiss for your Pale Lady?"_

Harry left the plane of Swords, and stared at the Veiled Spear on his lap, its silver and gold glow dimmed by the Veil itself, and then took out a piece of paper, then began writing.

_There is no equivalent of Zanjutsu when it comes to Spears, because it is the most uncommon of all Zanpakuto forms. I suppose I must write the first book of Spear Katas..._

**Harry**

"Hollows generally stratify into two types, the normal, everyday Hollow, and the Menos Grande, which are a conglomerate of souls. The Menos Grande come in three classes, the Gillian, the Adjuchas and the Vasto Lorde. The Gillian is a mindless beast that has given in to its desire to devour everything in exchange for more power, and loss of identity. When an identity surfaces, which is generally the strongest soul within the entity, it becomes an Adjuchas. There are around one Adjuchas to three hundred Gillians. And finally, due to an unknown process, an Adjuchas is able to become a Vasto Lorde."

Harry took notes, as per usual. Third year had introduced a new class - Hollow Theory, which he enjoyed as much as Kido. Killing of- err, Care of Magical Creatures had always been interesting to him, even if it were only because of Hagrid that he had taken the class.

"Vasto Lordes have been alive for as long as the Captain Commander, and outclass the majority of the Captains in the Gotei Thirteen."

"Let me take the class from here, Instructor-san?"

Harry's eyes snapped up as he heard the Captain Commander's voice.

"A Vasto Lorde is the most dangerous Hollow to exist, without question. I would be hard pressed to kill one. I would need to release my Bankai to kill two. I would be killed by three, even with Bankai, and the Four Legendary Hado, the last of which I would consider using if I met more than three."

Yamamoto looked straight at Harry, and Harry caught his message. _If you ever encounter a Vasto Lorde, use the Four._

"Luckily, I only know of three existing Vasto Lordes. Better yet? They hate each other, and they keep to themselves. Never give them a reason to attack you. You will likely never be a match for them."

Most of the students looked faintly horrified. A few fools looked ready to run out and challenge Vasto Lordes, even if they couldn't even activate their Shikai. Retsu and Kirio looked equally determined and grim-faced. Harry was more grim than determined. He believed that he was the only one who knew how powerful Yamamoto truly was.

"Hueco Mundo is composed of several main areas. The Underground, where all the low Level Hollows exist, the Desert, where most of the higher powered Hollows live. The city of Las Noches, where Lorde Louisenbaim, the most powerful of the Three rules, the Sea, where Lorde Harribel, the Shark Queen of Hueco Mundo exists. There is no set location on the last of the Three, but he is considered on par with the other two. Barragan is as old as I am. I recall losing a battle to him when he was an Adjuchas. Harribel is a generation behind mine, and has defeated and killed four Captains of the Gotei Thirteen since its inception a mere hundred years ago."

Harry glanced at Kirio and Retsu. They would kill all three of the Vasto Lordes. Retsu smiled.

**Harry**

His Zanjutsu improved dramatically after he began putting his nose to the grindstone, and testing his new Katas against Kirio and Retsu. He was still unable to beat either of them, but he could at least hold his own against Kuchiki Masami, who had stabbed him many, many times with her Naginata. When it happened, Light always laughed at him for days afterwards.

Bakudo was much easier than Hado, but much more embarrassing for the victim. Harry had taken to using it on bullies.

Unfortunately, given his position as the best student of Class One, and the most powerful Kido practitioner in the history of Shinigami Academy, he was challenged very often.

"Fight me!"

"Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel, with light, divide into six."

"What? Fight me already!"

"Bakudo Number Sixty One, Rikujokoro."

The Six Rod Prison of Light was tricky to undo, and sometimes, when Harry was vindictive, seated members of the Kido corps had to be called in, because Harry refused to free people who attacked him, and teachers didn't tend to argue with someone who was on such good terms with the Captain-Commander.

He would have used Shunpo to get away, but he wasn't that good with it, and while he didn't actually need to say anything to use medium level Kido, the incantations sounded impressive, and generally scared people away.

"Fight me!"

"_Restrain_ yourself_._"

"Argh! Let me go, you-"

"You're really pathetic, you know? Can't even break out of the lowest level of Bakudo." Of course, Harry's First Kido, which he had modified heavily, was equivalent to a Sixty Second Kido in expended energy and results, but he wasn't going to let anyone know that.

"Get on my otouto's level, bitches!" Kirio screamed. Unfortunately, that led to another series of challenges. Ever since the Captain-Commander had given his speech about Hollows, and told everyone about his expectations for certain members of the class (he mentioned no names, but it was very obvious), people from the rookie First Years to the graduating Sixth Years had been challenging him.

"I'm going to snap one day and use the Senju Koten Taiho on these idiots."

"Isn't that the Ninety First Hado, Harry-kun?" Retsu wondered.

"Yes, it is. The Thousand Hand Bright Heaven Culling Sear. The incantation is Limit of the thousand hands-"

"Respectful Hands, unable to touch the Darkness. Shooting hands unable to reflect the blue sky. The road that basks in light, the winds that ignited the embers, time that gathers when both are together, there is no need to be hesitant, obey my orders! Light bullets, eight bodies, nine items, book of heaven, diseased treasure, great wheel, grey fortress tower. Aim far away, scatter brightly and cleanly when fired."

The Captain-Commander had recited the Ninety First Hado along with Harry. It was truly then that Retsu saw the difference between the two when it came to the Demonic Arts. The Captain-Commander was forceful, strong, bending magic to his will and releasing Reiryoku in a torrent. Harry was soft when the spell asked for it, resolute when finishing his statements, flowing into his Reiryoku itself even if he wasn't casting, and wholly erotic in his incantation.

Greater yet was Harry's ability to force people to picture his Hado when he chanted them. Retsu had a vivid flash of Harry's hands shaping and moulding huge clouds of rose colored light, and ten of the lights gathering about him, then shooting off into the distance and turning the world white and pink.

"You will be a Captain one day, Harry. I'm sure of it. Very few have the drive that you possess, and no one has your talent with Kido."

Harry swallowed heavily. "Vasto Lordes, huh? The ultimate test of strength. How many have actually been killed?"

"Two. Lost nearly twenty Shinigami per division subduing one of them."

Harry lied. Vasto Lordes weren't the ultimate test of strength. In a thousand years or so, there would be an entity so powerful that not even Fate could affect him.

His target was Uzumaki Naruto, the most powerful being to ever exist. And he would have to defeat him, and somehow convince him to lead the world into a Golden Age. He had given away the rest of his life, give or take a thousand years, for that express purpose.

And he'd be damned if he couldn't kill a Vasto Lorde on the way.


	6. Single Blade Cremation

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter, Naruto Uzumaki, nor Bleach.

Summary: Harry's the Master of Death now. But what does that really mean? Follow the adventures of the Boy-Who-Lived, thrown through space and Time to prepare him for a confrontation a spirit of Life who hasn't been doing a good job.

Check out my C2, www. fanfiction. net/ community/ Breaking_ the_ Boundaries_ between_ Worlds_ Good_ Crossovers /93077/

**Harry**

"_Can't you do any cool Shikai tricks like Yamamoto told me about?"_

"_I am a little different from other Zanpakuto Harry. My Shikai abilities are not fixed. When I was the Zanpakuto of the Spirit King, once of my powers were to stab with perfect accuracy anywhere he pictured. I doubt, however, that you'll gain the same power. One of the Spirit King's weaknesses was his inability to be accurate, which I solved."_

_Harry knew his weaknesses. The silence invaded once again, and the Shinigami and his Zanpakuto stared at each other._

"_Thirty million meters a second."_

"_Significantly faster than Shunpo, yes."_

**Harry**

"Shine on, Light in the Heart of Man!" Harry stared at his Shikai turned flashlight in consternation. Sure, Light could move at the speed of light. Unfortunately, she seemed to have the same consistency as light as well.

He knew it wasn't her fault. It was him. He was weak, and unable to use the most powerful Zanpakuto of all time. He hadn't ever seen any of his Shikai power, let alone the Bankai.

And now that he had, he had turned Light into something harmless. The disappointment he felt in himself was immense.

**Harry**

"Minazuki, Heal!"

Retsu was the second person to realize her Shikai, after Harry. Suddenly, he didn't feel so special anymore. Minazuki was a huge green manta ray that was surprisingly agile, and able to swallow people to heal them. Harry thought it was more than a little strange that someone like Retsu would have a Zanpakuto able to care for the wounded, when he was sure that if it weren't illegal, Retsu would rather put down a dying comrade than risk jeopardizing herself.

The thing about Harry's Shikai was that even without any special powers, it was still substantially stronger than most others. It gave him the ability to use magic. It could actually hurt the spirits of other Zanpakuto. He didn't use his Shikai when sparring. He had learned his lesson when he shattered a boy's Zanpakuto, and it took nearly a month for it to reform.

Therefore, he used his Veiled Spear, which was still as invisible as it was originally. It only worked on the less powerful members of Class Two now. Harry had to charge the Byakurai Lightning to get an edge now.

_Zzzzzap!_

"Damn it, Potter-san! Why does your Zanpakuto have so many powers?

Harry shrugged. He didn't want to tell anyone that he was able to contain Kido within his blade, or release it when no one expected it. He had burned, electrified and blown people throughout all five classes, including Retsu and Kirio.

They called him a prodigy, the greatest Shinigami since the Captain-Commander. He disagreed. He was a one-trick pony. Kido and Magic firing Shikai. That's all he had. Retsu was the real genius. She mastered everything in seconds, and he knew that she would be the one to replace the Captain-Commander one day, or at least a Division Commander.

Harry despaired. He wasn't sure how old Uzumaki Naruto was right now, or if he was even born yet, but the boy must have gained lots of power very quickly if he was able to confront his greatest enemy with skill alone when he was nineteen. Harry had no illusions about his skill in magic in comparison to Voldemort. Even now, with so many Kido, he was sure that Tom would have destroyed him.

Except... his mind ground to a halt.

_Harry dropped into the Swordscape with a question burning on his lips._

_"Light!"_

_"No. I refuse to allow you to attach the Single Blade Cremation to my Shikai and wave it around. Are you insane?"_

_Harry looked ready to cry. "How am I going to complete my mission if I'm such an idiot when it comes to Zanjutsu. Everyone knows you're the strongest, and they think you're the reason I'm so good. I'm like an illusion, something that Yamamoto and Kirio and Retsu wished into existence."_

_"That's where my strength is, Harry."_

_"Illusions?" Harry gaped._

_"Oh dear Fate, no. Don't compare me to those lesser beings."_

_Harry stared, and wondered how a Zanpakuto's strength could be wishing things in existence. He had wished for strength, and a better refrigerator, and soft drinks once in a while. It's not like they just appeared._

_"I'll grant you the First of the Four, Harry-kun."_

He snapped out of Light's World feeling rather confused, and mildly elated by the look of caring on her face.

**Harry**

"The power of a human sacrifice. A breakdown of earth and sky to seal the demon without within. To release the Demon from the depths of hell, to release the Demon from the depths of self. First or Ninth join into the Strength of Ten, the Strength of One. Thirty thousand shadows come together in the name of the Sage to honor the Cremation. A Cremation joins in the name of the Soul, in the name of the Spirit, in the name of Spiritual Pressure to comprise of the Yin. A Cremation joins in the name of the Body, in the name of Life, in the name of Willpower to comprise of the Yang. Izanami cackles as she hands you the blade. A Cremation is called to the fore by the Blade of the Dead Demon, the Blade of the Pale Lady, the Blade of Life and Death. Hado Number Ninety Six, in the name of Izanami by the grace of the Light in the Heart of Man, **Itto Kaso**"

Harry conducted the Ninety Sixth Kido with the Elder Wand and the Spear, condensing it down from a three story high, several feet thick burst of malevolent crimson energy into a single, thin line of power that was the same shape and size as the Spear of Longinus. Harry quickly switched his Spear to his left hand and began to practice a mirror version his Spear Kata along with the original using the Single Blade Cremation. The majority of his Magic and Reiryoku bled and blended together in order to shield his hands from the energy. When he hit the ground, it split the earth, creating a chasm on the face of the third High Kido training ground.

"That's the energy from-"

"Yes, so-taichou. This is the Single Blade Cremation."

"You've managed to isolate a sliver of its power to wield in battle alongside your Shikai?" Yamamoto stared. Harry didn't seem to be missing any body parts either.

"Nope!" Harry said cheerfully, eliciting a frown. "This is the entirety of the Single Blade, condensed into a spear. Did you know that this is the perfect shape to contain large amounts of Reiryoku?"

Yamamoto stared at the boy who kept destroying his expectations by going so far and beyond that it left the majority of his hopes and dreams in the dust. He nodded. "Any luck with discovering your Shikai powers?"

"No", Harry lied. The flashlight trick was just embarrassing. Light let a soothing vibe in his hands, which had long dispersed the Single Blade Cremation, partially comforting and more than a little derisive.

**Harry**

It had been three months, and Kirio had discovered both the name of her Sword, the greatest of all Wind Zanpakuto, Akuma no mippu fusoku, or the Demon Sealed in Wind. Yamamoto looked ready to have kittens.

"Fufufufufufu, I see you choose your companions very well, Harry-san!" Yamamoto examined the Minazuki and the Akuma no Mippu Fusoku.

"Fall from the tempestuous heights, Demon Sealed in Wind!"

Kirio had no control over her Zanpakuto at all. Everything from trees to rooftops blew everywhere, hitting both her and Harry. Minazuki wrapped himself around Retsu, shielding her from all the damage. Yamamoto was nowhere to be seen.

Harry was envious. He might have had the strongest Zanpakuto, but when Kirio became powerful, he had no doubt she'd have a lot more kills than him.

_I'm a hero. I challenge the evil villain to a one-on-one battle. I don't deserve to be part of an army, because I get everyone killed._

It was his other persona, the one he took when he went to visit Light. While he heard Light once in a while, he heard his other person a lot more often.

**Harry**

"Do you think that you don't know where you're going sometimes, Retsu-chan?"

"Of course I don't always know where I'm going. What's the point in existing if there isn't something unknown out there?"

"Everyone's moving faster than me."

Retsu didn't respond to that.

"How do you do it, Retsu?"

"How do you use Kido like you do?"

Harry bit his lip. "I've told you before."

"It's no clearer than it was when you first described it, Harry", Retsu said, rather gently. "Tell me about the Spear."

"She doesn't like to be called Spear. She says it's too phallic", Harry turned his eyes down in embarrassment. "Her Shikai is Light in the Heart of Man, Lance of Blood and Water, and she likes to tell me that she's actually what motivates all of humanity. Death."

"That's a terrible way to live", Retsu said softly.

"She does things. Things that can't be spoken of. She takes the form of people that I know well, and..." It was unspoken, but Retsu knew.

"Does she take my form?"

Harry looked away and nodded.

He turned around again when Retsu tapped his arm lightly, and she planted a shy kiss on his lips.

**Harry**

Unfortunately for Harry, news of his sudden relationship with Retsu spread like wildfire. It appeared that Harry and Retsu both had their share of stalkers - mostly Class Three and Class Four Shinigami without much brains to boast of.

People began staring at them in the halls, and making Harry uncomfortable due to the parallels he drew to Hogwarts. Retsu just didn't like eyes on her, and set low-level Kido at people who didn't mind their own business, earning several trips to the Head Instructor's office, but those stopped after the teachers realized that she had spoken to Yamamoto often (usually while she was with Harry).

Worse yet was Kirio. She seemed to be ignoring the pair of them, followed by an angry outburst, accusing Harry and Retsu of hiding their relationship from her. If she was brutal before, she was vicious now, and she tore into Harry like never before, though she maintained a frosty relationship with Retsu.

**Minato**

"Well, crap", he deadpanned as the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the Nine Tailed Demon Fox of Legend approached the Hidden Village of Konoha from the south east.

He had just managed to retrieve his wife and son from the most evil traitor in the history of his village, Uchiha Madara, only to be a victim of the man's demon summoning capabilities.

See, Namikaze Minato didn't belong to a normal village. He was a citizen of Konohakagure no Sato, the Village Hidden in Leaves, the most powerful of the Five Ninja Villages. And he was no common citizen, or even a common ninja.

He was the Hokage, the leader of the village, tried and tested by the best to overcome the greatest of hardships. He was considered one of the strongest ninja of all time, due to his insane prowess with the Hiraishin no Jutsu, a skill that manipulated Space-Time to allow him to appear in more than one area at once.

He had used to to rescue his family.

"Damn it, I need a Shinigami. Someone strong, like Yamamoto-sama!"

Minato had travelled quite often as a young man, and his unique connection to his Yin Chakra allowed him to see dead people. Literally.

Most ninja had a balance of Yin and Yang Chakra, Spiritual and Physical Energies that molded together to produce normal Chakra, which was a manipulation of a ninja's body and mind to produce devastating elemental attacks.

Minato, who had never really liked Yang Chakra exercises (also known as lifting weights), meditated nearly eight or nine times as much as most ninja, causing his Yin Chakra to spike in density, quality and amount. He saw Death Gods nearly every day as they took care of souls that had just died. They weren't allowed to kill the living, but...

He stared at the Kyuubi no Youko. _If it looks like a duck.._.

Snake... Boar... Ram... Rabbit... Dog... Rat... Bird... Horse...

The huge Toad he had ridden into battle gave a jump, and for a moment he forgot the final seal. "Kuso", he muttered as he nearly dropped little Naruto when he wracked his brains trying to remember the final hand seal.

He ended up forgoing it, and going straight to the clap. It would probably use more Chakra, since he remembered that it was one of the three stabilization seals. But the combination of a jumping three story toad and a wailing baby trapped between his armpit meant that he managed to clap his wrist instead. He blanched and quickly slid his hand upwards, attempting to compensate. Little did he know, he made it worse.

If the Shodai Hokage was alive, he would have recognized the hand motion as the same which summoned the World Tree from the ground, used to commune with the Spirit King. Use of it drained around five sixths of a user's Chakra. But tying to a summoning jutsu...

A dimensional hole was created as the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Minato-style attempted to rip into the palace of the Spirit King and summon him. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on the context), Minato didn't possess the Oken, and his jutsu was barred clearance. It was instead rerouted to the next source of the Spirit King's Reiryoku.

Light in the Heart of Man.

**Harry**

One moment, he was in a training field, doing spear katas with his Shikai, and the next, he was dragged through a dimensional portal, to a man who was rapidly becoming a Plus, a soul that had just vacated a body.

The man had a large amount of Reiryoku and not a small amount of magic, and was clutching a baby of all things. Harry looked down and realized that he was standing on a Toad.

"Is that a Dimensional hole?" Harry pointed at the huge, gaping Dimensional hole in the air.

"Yeah, you just came out of it", Minato said weakly, his hands still clasped together and feeding Chakra to his jutsu.

"Stop that! You've broken into Hueco Mundo!" Harry shouted, as a Gillian class Hollow shot out of the opening.

"Shinigami!" the majority of the ninja screamed, pointing at the Hollow. Harry rolled his eyes.

"There's a... fox over there. You might need to kill it. It's not normal. It doesn't belong on this plain."

Harry stared at it. "I can only destroy its Reiryoku, which is... immense. You must somehow seal it away. I don't have the same power that some Captains would have." Harry paused. "What's your name?"

Harry grit his teeth, staring at the Hollow, which was backing away from the huge Demon fox slowly. Minato nodded. "I was expecting to seal it in my son anyhow. I'm going to die, right? Namikaze Minato..."

Harry looked down at the boy, who had the beginnings of whisker marks on his cheek. _Cute_.

"The power of human sacrifice! A Cremation is called to the fore by the Blade of the Dead Demon, the Blade of the Pale Lady, the Blade of Life and Death. Hado Number Ninety Six, in the name of Izanami by the grace of the Light in the Heart of Man. I call upon you to shine on and to possess the willpower of mine, to give me my Magic, to give me my Strength. I sacrifice the dying body of Namikaze Minato to summon the **Itto Kaso**"

The huge blade was drawn from the ground, and it wrapped itself around the magic of Namikaze Minato, effortlessly vaporizing the Gillian class Hollow.

Harry concentrated, and the Single Blade Cremation passed straight through the huge demon fox, split its Yin and Yang Chakra.

"Hakke no Fuin!" Minato's arm sank into the Kyuubi, and then pressed against his son's stomach, sealing the S-classed Demon's physical power into the boy.

He collapsed, spent.

"Soul Burial", Harry said solemnly, putting the Veiled Spear onto Namikaze Minato's body, sending him to District One of West Rukongai.

"Now how do I get back to Seireitei?"


	7. The Fourth

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter, Naruto Uzumaki, nor Bleach.

Summary: Harry's the Master of Death now. But what does that really mean? Follow the adventures of the Boy-Who-Lived, thrown through space and Time to prepare him for a confrontation a spirit of Life who hasn't been doing a good job.

Author's Note: Most of you did blink and miss the entirety of why Harry went back in time. Who do you think awoke the Sword of Gryffindor in Neville? A blond spirit with blue eyes and something different about his right eye that came when someone threw a Hiraishin kunai? Named the Maelstrom? How many hints did I have to drop? Not to be an ass, but go back and read it!

Check out my newest fic, a Naruto/Claymore crossover at www. fanfiction. net /s/ 7094463

**Harry**

"Explain yourself", Yamamoto growled. "Now!"

Harry had been been half-dragged, half-thrown through the Dangai, an interdimensional space, by the Shihoin Clan head, who was also the Second Division captain.

"A ninja summoned me. He used something called the Dead-Demon Consuming Seal, which was supposed to select the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society, but he botched it up and tried to summon the Spirit King instead."

Yamamoto stared. "Continue."

"But he obviously didn't have the Oken-"

"How do you know about that", Yamamoto was suddenly next to him, holding the tip of the the walking staff that held the Ryuujin Jakka against his neck.

"Light told me about the Oken. She was the Spirit King's Zanpakuto before she was mine."

It wasn't news to Yamamoto, but he didn't think the Zanpakuto would be flinging around secrets that the Central Forty Six barely knew anything about to Academy students. "Continue", he repeated, warily.

"So Namikaze-san didn't have the Oken, so his Summoning Jutsu tracked down the next closest signature to the Spirit King - Light. I was practicing with the Shikai when I was pulled through Hueco Mundo and into the Mortal Coil."

Yamamoto froze again. The only Shinigami he had known to refer to the world of the Living as the Mortal Coil were those that were extremely old. Then he remembered Light, once again.

"Namikaze-san, the leader of his village, was fighting a, I'm not kidding you, Nine-Tailed Demon."

Yamamoto gaped. He had fought a Four-Tailed Demon Lord before. It had thrown around the equivalence of Level Eighty Hado with impunity. Considering the fact that tails became exponentially more difficult to acquire...

"So he had the brilliant idea to seal the life force of the Demon in his son."

Yamamoto choked on the tea he was drinking. "Wh-what?"

"It was a process that would have taken his life anyway, so he gave me his name to sacrifice. I called the Single Blade Cremation with his death, and I managed to split the Demon in half."

"In half? As in-"

"No, not physically." Harry bit his lip. "Humans, they have Reiryoku too, but since they have bodies that were grown organically, they synthesize living energy from the earth, and make it their own, by eating and breathing, and all. The Demon Lord was half of Reiryoku, and half of Living Force. When I was alive, we called Living Force magic. Namikaze-san refers to Reiryoku as Yin Chakra, and Living Force as Yang Chakra."

Harry drew an Ouroboros, then turned it into a Yin Yang symbol. "Life. The true power of the Single Blade Cremation, so-taichou, is not the ability for it to kill its enemies by vaporizing them. It's for Shinigami who are weaker than their targets. The incantation, recite it with me, sir?"

Yamamoto nodded.

"The power of a human sacrifice. A breakdown of earth and sky to seal the demon without within. To release the Demon from the depths of hell, to release the Demon from the depths of self. First or Ninth join into the Strength of Ten, the Strength of One. Come together in the name of the Sage to honor the Cremation. A Cremation joins in the name of the Yin. A Cremation joins in the name of the Yang. A Cremation is called to the fore by the Blade of the Dead Demon, the Blade of the Pale Lady, the Blade of Life and Death. The Single Blade Cremation."

Once again, Yamamoto was reminded of Harry's gift with Kido. While he was just reading what amounted to a poem, Harry's eyes had lit up in a very disturbing show of power.

"I learned what the power of the human sacrifice was. _Jinchuuriki_, people with demons sealed within them. The process calls for the life of another, to split Yin and Yang. What happens next is the equivalent of a Soul Burial for the Reiryoku, though it sends the power straight to the Spirit King, and the Yang Chakra is sealed into the target. Light hasn't told me the story of the Sage of Six Paths yet, but it has something to deal with another part of the incantion - First or Ninth join into the Strength of Ten, the Strength of One. The Single Blade Cremation is a sample of the power that a Ten Tailed Beast would have."

"Your Zanpakuto told you all of this?"

"Most of it, yes. I read some of Namikaze-san's scrolls before the Captain brought me back."

"Very well. You have given me much to think of. Try not to get summoned again."

**Minato**

"Hey!" a black haired, green eyed Academy student called to him. Minato looked upwards. The Shinigami entrance exam was about to begin soon, but he welcomed the distraction.

Harry had been permitted by Yamamoto to watch the entrance exams. They floated over the crowd, looking for potential powerhouses. Harry was convinced that Minato would pass easily.

"Settle down, maggots!"

Harry winced. It didn't get easier on the ears with time. He then watched open mouthed as Minato began engaging the other hopefuls with a type of Hakuda he had never seen. Yamamoto watched quietly, trying to find a method to the madness, but was unsuccessful. Each time Minato engaged his opponent, he was in a different stance, but somehow managed to land a sucker punch right between the eyes, knocking each other out in seconds. He had collected nearly twenty medallions.

He wasn't beating up idiots either. Three or four kids had gotten up, and managed to defeat other people for their medallions. A stack of yellow medallions were balanced on Minato's left arm as the instructors called time.

Harry followed the group of eight that had gotten more than five medallions, and watched Minato twist his hand into a strange shape, and fire off a textbook example of Hado Number Thirty Two, the Yellow Fire Flash, which he had taught the man a month ago.

"Those are hand-seals, so-taichou. When he was living, ninja used that to mold their Chakra and use Kido. That's why he's able to forgo the incantation."

Yamamoto nodded. Harry had a knack of answering his most pressing questions without prompting.

A little while later, another, "Settle down, maggots!" was heard, and the Zanjutsu testing began.

Minato pulled out a pair of Hiraishin kunai, three-pronged works of art. He had around four on his body when he died, but two of them had poorly made seals, so he was left with two.

Some of the students laughed. "Those are really small", said a man with a huge broadsword.

"At least I'm not compensating", snapped Minato, as he got into a ready stance.

It was child's play for a Kage. The instructor came at him with a textbook attack, and he parried it easily, then slipped the other kunai into the Shinigami's liver.

"Pass! Class one!" Yamamoto shouted from overhead as the watching seated Shinigami of Division Four, a healer, quickly ran over to make sure the instructor was okay. Like the last time he was incapacitated, Yamamoto quickly defeated the rest of the hopefuls, and sent them all into Class Three.

**Harry**

Another year had passed, and Minato, who was around the same age as Harry, became fast friends with the other. He tutored Harry in Hakuda as Kirio (who had forgiven Harry and Retsu a long while ago), and Harry could find himself getting better.

Yet he couldn't help but be envious of even his newest companion. He wasn't a natural, like Retsu, but he was close. He had a Light-typed Zanpakuto, the Azayaka Hakko, which had never been seen before. His Shikai was a technique he had known in his lifetime, and separated his small, gold wazikashi into a thousand three-pronged Kunai, and he could move to each one instantly, quicker than the Apparition which Harry was now incapable of, and quicker than even the Shunpo.

Everyone was so fast.

"Ultraviolet!" The spectrum shifted, and Harry was able to discern Kido even as Retsu formed them. It was an ability of his Shikai, but he was able to use it with the Veiled Spear.

"You don't really have to be that fast if you can never be surprised by Kido", Retsu smiled.

"There's no harm in being a long-range fighter. Susano'o knows that our Village needed more of those when I was alive", Minato chimed in.

"Loser", said Kirio. There was no real malice in her words, though they hurt anyway.

"Listen up!" shouted an instructor. "We're having Class reordering! It will take the form of a tournament style placement exam!"

"A tournament? That's really cliche." Harry furrowed his brows. In truth, he was afraid that he'd disappoint everyone, and be sent into Class Two, or worse. There were only five spots in Class One, and at least four members of Class Two were better at Zanjutsu than him. Everyone in Class One was better than him. "Should I use my Shikai?"

"Yes, everyone in Class One will be using theirs, and you would be at a heavy disadvantage if you didn't."

"You know what my Shikai can do, Retsu-chan." She nodded sympathetically, but she didn't understand. If Minazuki could shatter other Zanpakuto, she would rely on the talent more, rather than less.

"The Captain-Commander told you that it was unhealthy to fight with Light, remember?" Kirio spoke softly.

**Harry**

"_Let me inside, no cause for alarm, I promise tonight..." Light sang softly._

_Harry turned. "I guess I'm here because I'm sick of it too."_

_Light was beside him, quite suddenly, but Harry didn't tense. He was never in danger when she was around. She put her arms around him._

_A light drizzle began falling from the slowly darkening sky, and Harry was reminded that every minute on the outside was worth a day in their shared Swordscape._

"_The boundaries of our fears, Harry. Perchance your dreams will pierce them?"_

_Light had been lit up in an ethereal glow, and Harry saw her clearly for the first time since they had met, her intense beauty, and the grace by which she carried herself._

_The silence was more beautiful than usual, as Harry gazed upon her, taking her in as if she'd disappear if he looked away._

"_You've forgotten how to love yourself."_

_It was a statement, hard and unyielding, spoken with thousands of years worth of experience. Light never flaunted her experience as Yamamoto would have. She never spoke of her battles with Susano'o's Totsuka, or how she was used to destroy the Spirit King's Gigai._

_But in moments like these, Harry was reminded that while Light might have represented all that was good in him, she was also all that was good in the Spirit King, who had lost more power than he could dream of, who had forgotten more knowledge than he could ever learn._

_Harry tentatively wrapped his arms around her, and the Resurrection Stone glinted as the rays of the rising sun hit it. Has it really been several hours?_

"_I'll teach you Zanjutsu", she whispered in his ear._

_A bubble of elation rose from his stomach, and he couldn't help but smile brightly as her blond hair obscured his vision._

**Harry**

He realized that he knew nothing about how to use a spear when she showed him. He had been attempting to adapt it into what Minato had called Kenjutsu, and had failed miserably.

_You don't swipe like that_, came the advice from Light's Shikai.

He nodded absentmindedly and adjusted his hands.

It felt good to improve by huge leaps and bounds again. He still lacked any ability with Hoho, able to use Shunpo for less than a second, but the katas she taught him seemed to help him utilize his lack of skill in Hoho to counter even the Shihoin boy.

"I'm going to win this tournament!" he crowed, mainly to himself.

"Is that so?" smiled Retsu.

"Yeah", Harry smirked, rather challengingly.

"I'll bet you all the orange juice I have saved in my refrigerator."

"Deal!" Orange juice was hard to come by, after all. When they did have it in the cafeteria, Harry and Retsu would stockpile it, testing his Shunpo to its limits. Retsu naturally had much more orange juice than him, due to her skill in Shunpo which were only matched by that of the Shihoin kid.

The tournament wasn't a formal one. It was just Yamamoto asking for challengers, in which people could sign up to fight against others, and the top eight winners would square off for seats in Class One.

Harry had no less than thirty three challengers. There were some people who challenged all five of them, but everyone in Class Two had challenged Harry for his spot. Kirio and Retsu had around twenty each, give or take two, and the Shihoin boy had the least - seven. Harry found it to be strange. Kuchiki Masami was the weakest of them, and while no one had known about his Zanjutsu improvement, it was known that he could throw around Ninetieth Hado with impunity.

He supposed that was why he was challenged. People believed that if they could defeat him, they would gain the favor of the Captain-Commander.

"Potter Harry vs. Kishimoto Oda!"

Harry sighed as he sent twenty contestants into what seemed to be epileptic fits with the use of Hado Number Four. If he doubled the voltage, they would have been sent into a coma. Tripled and they would have died. The Captain-Commander seemed glad that he wasn't putting overtime on the Fourth division, which had sent an entire team to watch the proceedings.

Harry beat each of his challengers with the Byakurai Lightning, except for one case in which he bound the boy with the first Bakudo and then criticized him for several minutes. Harry hated trashtalkers. They reminded him of Draco Malfoy, who was currently unborn.

Harry quickly decimated the eighth place contest with several well placed Kido, and threatened to entomb him in the Hado Number Ninety Black Coffin before the boy surrendered.

Retsu and Kirio had no problem with either of their opponents, and the Shihoin boy had just managed to defeat Kuchiki Masami.

Of course, Harry's next opponent would have to be the fastest of them all.


	8. An Unfortunate Author's Note

Unfortunately, I will not be continuing The Master of Death.

1. Predictability - Come on, don't kid yourself. You know exactly how it's going to turn out - the super!Harry formula has already past, and the brightest gem I had of an idea - oh wait. It wasn't even entirely my idea, tbh. Go read Retsu's Folly and tell me it's not several hundred times better. D:

2. Writing Standard - It's crap, compared to what I know I'm capable of. At some point, I might give this a spin again, but it'll probably be a one shot, and it'll probably end up being more artsy and dark like D Minor than sprawling and faux-epic like Kaleidoscope.

3. I might pull this from ffn entirely, or not. Anyone is free to adopt it. Please, make it better than it is... D8

Thanks for reviewing, favoriting and following. I do feel really bad about this...


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